“When our vision is on our aim, we will continue to progress.”

Projection:


Sometimes as we move along we suddenly stop. We no more find the progress that should be there in our life. At such times we don’t really understand what the reason is. We do try to bring about changes but it doesn’t always work and we find ourselves stagnating.

Solution:

When on a journey, we are sure to come across many scenes that are beautiful or distracting. But when we know where we have to go we will never be distracted but will move on appreciating each scene that comes our way. In life too, when we are faced with a situation that is not in keeping with our aim we need to pay special attention not to get carried away with such side-scenes.

“When our vision is on our aim, we will continue to progress.”

Projection:


Sometimes as we move along we suddenly stop. We no more find the progress that should be there in our life. At such times we don’t really understand what the reason is. We do try to bring about changes but it doesn’t always work and we find ourselves stagnating.

Solution:

When on a journey, we are sure to come across many scenes that are beautiful or distracting. But when we know where we have to go we will never be distracted but will move on appreciating each scene that comes our way. In life too, when we are faced with a situation that is not in keeping with our aim we need to pay special attention not to get carried away with such side-scenes.

Reflection

Reflection (thinking deeply) is a necessary step in digesting knowledge.


Reflection is an exercise of the mind and intellect that goes into the depths of understanding an idea, or realization, or point of knowledge with the aim of practicing it in daily life.

Values in my life are a sign that knowledge has been digested; without this, knowledge simply remains a beautiful aspect, appreciated, interesting information in my intellect but without the ability to give me strength because it is still external; it has not been internalised.

All quality action (quality action is that action which is truly appropriate to person, circumstance and the need of the moment), all newness of perception (understanding), all new insights, or vision, require a space for silent reflection as a preliminary step.

Normally, we are lost in the business of action, its routine and ritual that make our life so mechanical and hence dull and boring, or demanding and hectic.

A mind and intellect that do not give time and attention to reflective silence (meditation) become lazy, though externally there is lots of activity for hours and hours. No new heights are reached because there is no depth of awareness in what we are doing, no reflection on purpose. As a result, we get trapped by routine.

To be dictated to by external situations, which make us run around without stopping internally, brings aboutunnecessary stress on the mind, which keeps us tied to the strings of the external, like a puppet pulled, pressed and pushed by circumstances.


To break free from this force, to relieve the mind of the weight of stress and waste and routine, I need to stepinside and reflect (think) on who I am and where I am going and reassess my value system. Otherwise, life becomes like a wheel that keeps spinning faster and faster until we become dizzy – we want to get off but it is going so fast we do not know how.

Reflection and taking time to understand spiritual knowledge bring us to the essence of everything.

“To be an inspiration to many is to be a hero actor.”

Projection:


When we see negativity in others, we usually think and speak about it. We then take no inspiration to think and act positive. The more the attention is drawn towards negativity, our actions will become negative too.

Solution:

Whatever the situation we are in, we need to make effort to change our own actions and turn them to positive. We will then be free from looking at the negativity in others. And our actions will become an inspiration to those around us, which will inspire them to become positive too.

Anger Management And Prevention

To get freedom from anger, you need to stop trying to control other people, events and the world in general and accept them exactly as they are at a particular moment. In the meantime, since most of us have learned and developed the deep habit of becoming angry regularly, given below is a stepwise method that, over a period of time, will help you manage and overcome anger completely.


1. Realization

By increasing your self-realization, you will start to notice the anger in its initial stage, e.g. irritation is the first warning that there is a disturbance in your mind. When you do start to experience the irritation emerging, go to the next step.

2. Recognition

Recognize the fact that you and only you are completely responsible for creating your irritation. Make sure not to become irritated at yourself for becoming irritated!

3. Acceptance

Accept and welcome the irritation’s presence, do not resist it, otherwise it will only become stronger and you are likely to suppress it.

4. Detachment


Now detach yourself from the emotion and just observe it. Remember, you are not your emotions. All emotions die under observation. You are the creator and it is your creation. Don’t identify with the emotion.

5. Tune In

The quietest place in a storm is at its centre. And so it is with the storm of emotion. The quietest place is at the centre, which is the heart of your own consciousness. The technique of Rajyoga meditation (as taught by the Brahma Kumaris) teaches you how to go there and connect with the Supreme Soul and discover your inner peace and power.

After following the stepwise method to overcome anger (as explained yesterday and today), at the end of the day, check yourself as to how well you implemented these steps in real life situations to overcome your anger. You may not be able to go through all the steps right away, but for a particular situation, your thoughts while checking yourself, could be: “This afternoon, I did experience a feeling of irritation arising inside me when Mr. Gupta visited me in my office, so I did realize the irritation. I recognized and took responsibility for it, and did not get angry with him. But instead of accepting the presence of the irritation, I began to oppose and thereby suppress it. As a result it worsened by the evening. So tomorrow I will work more on the third step i.e. Acceptance and experience true inner peace.”

Re-Discovering Inner Treasures

Whenever the situation or atmosphere becomes polluted with tension, sorrow, or negativity of any type, withdraw immediately into the self and dive deep into the ocean of sanskaras, picking up the pearls of peace and contentment. Come back to that situation feeling refreshed, calm and clear, with the strength to deal with any circumstances. The process of self-introspection (self observation) need only take a few moments.


Meditation

Let the intellect focus on the following thoughts and reading over them slowly, go deeply into the experience of each state being described:
The soul is a point of energy, weightless and light situated at the center of the forehead… Let the intellect see deeper into the self and emerge the memory of the stillness of the original state of the soul, a state full of love, peace and bliss… Let the outside world continue on its way, but for a few moments be detached from it… turn within, and enjoy the inner treasures… of calmness, of peace, a very pure experience… the peaceful soul can more easily gather together its inner powers… Peace itself is a rare power… just sitting and feeling still, experience the refreshment and restoration of strength to the intellect… the cleansing of the mind.

“To be humble is to be a source of happiness to all around. "

Projection:


Sometimes we find that we don’t mean to be negative to others but people seem to be displeased with us. When there is any kind of sorrow experienced or if others are experiencing any negative feelings, it means we are not working with our inner humility.


Solution:

We need to develop regard for all around us. When we work with this regard there will be humility within us. This naturally enables others to experience happiness. To the extent that even in the most negative situations others will experience happiness.

“The one who is royal plays with the jewels of knowledge.”

Projection:

Throughout the day several times we find ourselves performing such actions or speaking such words that hurt others. Such behavior actually reflects the fact that we are playing with stones instead of jewels.

Solution:

Real jewels are such words and actions that are filled with knowledge or truth. Knowledge gives us understanding which brings sweetness in our words and accuracy in our actions and this is real royalty.

Overcoming Phobias Through Meditation

A phobia is an intense , continuous and illogical fear of an object, situation, activity, person or animal that’s generally considered harmless. Accompanying the fear is an excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid what you fear. When facing the object of his/her phobia, the person may experience negative feelings like excessive sweating, poor control of nerves, difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate, anxiety , etc. In some cases, the avoidance or distress in the feared situation interferes significantly with the person’s daily routine, social activities, relationships etc.

To overcome any phobia, read over silently and visualize the following positive thoughts:




I am a soul, an eternal, immortal and indestructible (which cannot be destroyed) point of life energy……..



Sitting on my throne in the centre of the forehead, I the ruler, perform actions through my body……..



I have incarnated (entered) in this physical body from ‘shantidham’, my incorporeal (non-physical) home, original home of light……..



I am an actor on the huge world drama stage……..



All the other souls are actors too, each acting a unique role through its own individual body-costume……..



This spiritual knowledge makes me detached and fearless……..



Unimportant scenes of the drama that would have previously brought about fear in me no longer affect me……..



Through Rajyoga meditation, the soul can experience all relationships with the Supreme Soul in its day-to-day life. I continue -



I experience receiving powerful vibrations of spiritual might from the Supreme Being……..



I fill my mind with thoughts of courage……..



When the Almighty is my Father, my Mother, my Companion, my Guide, no one can be my enemy……..



Nothing can harm me in any way……..



Fear is wasted energy, it has no power in my life……..



Now I am becoming a bold person and I am capable of facing all fearful situations with increased self-confidence ……..





At the end of the meditation practice, for a few minutes, the patient should create a picture of the fearful situation in his mind, while at the same time learning to relax. This will help him to decrease the anxiety (worry) when he faces the real life situation and he will be able to completely overcome (face) the specific fears.

Understanding The Mental Laws

The Law of Focus and Attention

Wherever we focus our attention is where our thoughts are directed with most frequency and interest. Thus energy is produced in this direction, whether positive and beneficial energy or negative and harmful energy. If we have a complicated mind, which thinks too much about certain things unnecessarily, our attention may be led towards the obstacles, problems, upsets and the things we worry about from a critical and negative viewpoint. By paying more attention to difficulties and problems, we feed these types of thoughts with our attention, so that we end up attracting these situations towards us. Finally, the problems and obstacles absorb us due to the amount of energy we have invested in them, turning what was perhaps a molehill (something very small) into a mountain. The situation does not necessarily change immediately on changing our attitude. With this inner change, however, we will have more energy, clarity and determination to face up to and change the situation. When we focus on seeking solutions to problems and difficulties with a positive and enthusiastic attitude, we attract positive energy towards us, and this helps us transform mountains into molehills.
If our attention is focused on people’s defects and weaknesses, we transmit energy to these aspects and strengthen these weaknesses in the other person and in ourselves. If, on the other hand, our attention is directed at the positive aspects of others, we reinforce these qualities and virtues and help this person express them, which is also beneficial to us.

Our personality is made up of a series of values, beliefs and habits. If we wish to transfer our energy to new and positive aspects of ourselves, we must choose the personality traits that we want to emerge from us, focusing our time and energy on them and, in this way, this virtue, value or quality will manifest itself in our life.

Positivity And Health

The target organ in a physical body is the organ, which is most prone to disease. It is determined by a mixture of genetic, background and environment factors (internal & external), which in turn are decided by good or bad actions in past births. Bad actions consume the spiritual energy & good actions increase the spiritual energy. Bad actions performed by a particular organ system in a particular birth leads to decrease in nourishing spiritual energy from the soul to that particular organ system, which in turn leads to development of disease in the organ system over a period of time. Mind acts as a sieve between the soul & physical body. Negative mental energy blocks the sieve of mind thereby blocking the flow of spiritual energy (peace, love etc.,) from the soul to the target organ. It also attracts microbes e.g.: bacteria, viruses, etc., oxidants, toxins towards cells of the target organ in the physical body, which damages the immune system thereby leading to disease over a period of time & disease consciousness. Positive mental energy opens the sieve of mind thereby increasing the flow of spiritual energy (peace, love etc.) from the soul to the target organ. It protects the cells of the target organ in the physical body from microbes e.g. bacteria, viruses, oxidants, toxins etc. It attracts healing proteins, molecules and anti-oxidants and boosts the immune system thereby leading to rapid recovery from disease and health-consciousness.

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

Projection:

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

Solution:

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

Stress Management

Most of us have learned to believe some stress is both natural and necessary. One of the most powerful illusions (false beliefs), which keep us locked in a stressful lifestyle, is the idea that our stress is caused by circumstances, events and other people. As long as you think this way you will always be in self-created pain. Some people have been in pain for so long they cannot imagine being pain free, and real relaxation is a dim and distant memory. So they justify their pain as a natural part of living and then feel that others are a cause of this pain. This is dangerous. To listen to the messenger of pain means seeing and acknowledging our stress as our own creation. It is the result of how we respond to the uncontrollables in life i.e. circumstances, events and other people. No one else creates our responses. If you can see and accept that you create your own stress according to how you are responding, you will then see that there is something you need to unlearn as well as learn. The old response needs to be unlearned, and a new positive response needs to be learned. The regular practice of meditation enables you to do that and become free from stress. If we want to change a habit, then where do we start? In other words, where do we change the system or how do we get out of the cycle? First of all, we can try changing our negative actions: for example, stop a negative habit like smoking. In many cases, although we change our behaviour, but because we have not understood deeply why we wanted to do it, is quite possible that one day we will go back to this old habit.

“The ones with pure love bring benefit to all.”

Projection:

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

Solution:

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

The Alphabet of Change

Awareness-

First, become aware of what you need to change in yourself. What is preventing you from attaining contentment? What habits are blocking the way to realizing your full potential?

Belief-

Many people think that a change in their personalities is extremely difficult. But in fact it is a reality that lies within your power. It might be useful to ask yourself questions such as “What has held me back from change in the past?” and “What are the stages by which I can bring change about?”

Commitment-

Motivation is the key to commitment. We need to want to change, rather than feel it is a duty to ourselves. Try writing down a list of commitments in the form of statements beginning with “I will”. They should come directly out of, and be connected with, your overall vision.

Discipline-

We cannot change unless we are able to maintain a steady course over time. Think of each sign as a major landmark passed. Even if we find ourselves slipping into old habits, that achievement of even a little bit of change cannot be taken away.