Spirituality In Practice (Self Introspection)

On the screen of your mind, make an appraisal (note) of what has happened
throughout the past week...

Think about the awareness that you have had of yourself... think about the
actions you have taken...Have they been based on a positive consciousness of
yourself? Can you see the intentions behind your actions? Are they pure and
positive?

Now, slowly and gently, I focus on my inner self... I observe myself... Does
my life carry meaning and a purpose... Is there learning and growth at each
step?

Do I possess inner strength... Am I able to use powers like the power to
tolerate, power to co-operate, power to face in my everyday actions and
experience success at every step... If so, do I feel strong and secure...

Do I remain in self-respect and as a result respect others... Do I love
myself and have good wishes for each one that I interact with...

Do I feel calm and at peace... free to experience my inner qualities... Are
my qualities visible through my actions...

And now, for a few moments, I am going to create feelings of peace and
serenity for others... I am going to share thoughts and feelings of peace
with others... this is practical spirituality...

Overcoming Fears Connected With Negative Past Experiences

Some of our fears arise due to the situations we have lived through; for
example, if you are driving a car and you have an accident. Then you take
some time to drive again, because the memory of the accident awakens the
fear of having another one or reliving the one you had. The person that has
never had a car accident gets in the car with confidence, because they do
not have that scene recorded, since they haven't lived through it.

There are fears that we carry within us that are not of the present.
Something happened to us in the dark and we are now afraid of the dark.
Fears in relationships: you opened your heart, you fell in love and, after a
time, you experienced pain, you felt hurt, misunderstood, manipulated,
deceived or mistreated, and now you no longer open your heart for anything;
it is closed off with the shields that you yourself have created. To
overcome this kind of fear due to experiences you have lived through, you
have to come to terms with your past and accept it fully. You cannot change
your past; lamenting the past doesn't help you; complaining about the past
doesn't benefit you. Those shields brought about by fears do not disappear
unless you do a deep cleansing. *Begin to heal your experience of the past.
Part of the past is healed with forgiveness. Without forgiving, you cannot
forget.
The work with oneself to see what aspects of your past burden you and coming
to terms with those aspects, requires silence, reflection and meditation.
When you come to terms with your own past, you can let go of it and be free
of it, not be afraid that the past will come back to you. If not, sometimes,
it is like a shadow that follows you. If your house was robbed once, the
shadow follows you that, perhaps, you might be robbed again. If they hurt
you, you fear it will happen again. Sometimes that experience presents
itself in dreams, in the subconscious or in present attitudes. Reliving the
past in your mind, you do not fully enjoy the present. *You have to accept
the pieces of your past so that they do not continue to generate
upsets.*Accept that you had to live through them and live the present
with a
constructive vision of the future.

In the above context,* it helps to write letters to God about your
experiences. The exercise of sharing them with God in writing brings clarity
inside you and helps you to bring the spiritual light and might in your life
in order not to be burdened by unnecessary experiences, unhappiness or
grief.* Have you ever written to God? You could do it at night and tell Him
the things that affected you or that you have learned. You can tell Him the
things or intimate feelings that other people perhaps wouldn't understand or
wouldn't be there to listen to. You could also talk to Him about all that
you question, and you do not have an answer to. And the following morning,
when you meditate and study a little bit of spiritual knowledge, you often
receive answers.

Restoring The Mind-Body Balance

Many people are under the impression that the focus of spirituality is only
on the mind and the soul, and the physical body is neglected. But that’s not
true. Our physical body is essential to our life and the art of living. It
is our vehicle and our home. An appropriate balance of *diet*, *sleep*, *
relaxation* and *exercise* is important for the body. However, when we enter
the world of spirituality, the main emphasis is on the mind and the soul.
This does not mean that we do not value or take care of our body. Without a
healthy body, we would not be able to express ourselves mentally or
spiritually. *Spiritual progress, which includes the listening/studying and
imbibing of spiritual knowledge, the practice of meditation, the inculcation
of divine virtues and the spiritual service of others through different
means is much easier and better with a healthy body.*

Unfortunately, though, we have lost the art or wisdom of balance and for
very long we have placed too much emphasis on our physical form, the body;
and less emphasis on our spiritual form, the soul, as a result, reducing our
spiritual awareness. One of the aims of spirituality is to restore this
balance between mind and body so that we can experience well-being and
happiness at every level. So while our body and our physical energy are
essential, the focus of spirituality is on the mind and the soul, to help
regain the balance.

The Mental Kaleidoscope

A kaleidoscope creates beautiful patterns from chaotic bits and pieces,
which are scattered everywhere. When the kaleidoscope is turned, disorder
becomes order, chaos becomes beauty and symmetry. The Drama of Life is
constantly turning and we are part of its cyclic movement; sometimes this
cyclic movement of life is supportive, comprehensible (understandable) and
enjoyable and, at other times, it is tense, fearful, stressful and
incomprehensible (not understandable). There is confusion and fear because
we do not understand what is happening, why it is happening and how it will
get better. Things not only appear chaotic but also hopeless. If the
intellect is able to go beyond the questions of 'Why?', 'What?' and 'How?'
and just be still, without judgements, or pressure, for some period of time,
then things do work out. To do this requires faith.

*The power of faith means that we know that somehow and somewhere right
solutions and answers will come in their own time.
We are so used to controlling people and situations to obtain a particular
result that we have forgotten how to use the power of faith.

The Law of Faith says, 'Plant the right seeds, make the right effort, but
also let things be.' Faith does not mean to be passive (inactive) but rather
to have acted and thought about something and then have the patience and
trust that the Drama of Life is also taking care of it; the outcome of any
action is not just up to me.

In Raja Yoga meditation taught by the Brahma Kumaris, we often hear the term
'a faithful intellect is victorious'. As the Drama of Life turns, such an
intellect works like a kaleidoscope and can perceive and see the often
hidden, beautiful patterns in life’s situations that, in time, become
visible and benevolent.

*Success, or victory, depends as much on doing the task with the right
intention, as it does on allowing things to take their own course. Wisdom is
an awareness of this balance.*

The Role Of My Intentions In Shaping My Future

The word 'karma' has been given many negative meanings. In common language,
most people almost always relate it to suffering, but the simplest meaning
of 'karma' is action. Newton's Third Law of Physics (every action has an
equal and opposite reaction) is a physical law of motion. The Law of 'Karma'
is the metaphysical (non-physical) equivalent of the Newton's Third Law - it
refers to action and its result (fruit) or, simply, cause and effect. *The
quality of my actions, thoughts more specifically determines my personal
level of happiness.* Our natures today are the result of everything we have
thought; they are formed by our thoughts. *It's not so much the act that
determines the return or fruit but the quality of the motive or intention
behind it* e.g. in the simple task of buying a new car, the intention can be
different in the case of three different people:

* I need to buy a good car; it's an urgent need of my family. (concern)
* What if I am not able to buy that car model which my wife so badly wants?
(worry)
* With me at the wheel of the brand new car, which I will be buying soon, I
will be the talk of the town, my office colleagues will really be jealous of
me! (ego)

Although the action is the same in each case, each of these attitudes will
lead to a different result. This role of intentions become clear when
analyzing the difference in guilt between an army officer who kills another
while protecting his country and another person who plans for months to
commit a murder out of personal enmity and hatred. The 'karma' of taking the
life of someone is the same in both cases, but the return or fruit of the
'karma' depends on the intention.

Taking Responsibility, Overcoming Guilt (cont.)

There is a difference between when we have established our own code of
values or beliefs in life, and when we feel obliged (forced) to obey an
imposed code of beliefs. *It is important for us to accept on an inner level
the code by which we think we should be guided and act.* When we act out of
obligation (compulsion), by following a code of beliefs or behaviors that we
feel have been imposed but aren't accepted as our own, we should ask
ourselves why we act out of obligation (compulsion), basing ourselves on a
code we have not accepted. Are we perhaps afraid that, if we don't do it, we
will feel guilty?

When we violate the codes of belonging to a group, family, social class or
community, generally we feel guilty. If this guilt leads us to question
ourselves about what is right for our conscience, we progress in our
personal growth and improve our clarity. *It is necessary to respect
ourselves, being clear about what the beliefs are on which we base our life,
think, feel and evaluate.* This will help us to avoid the gap between what
we should and what we want to do. *Until the should and the want are joined,
we leave an open space for guilt. *

When we act according to how we feel we *should*, we will feel guilt for not
doing what we *want*. While we act according to what we *want*, we will feel
guilt for not doing what we *should*. When guilt warns us that there is
something to check and correct within us and we are willing to see it, have
a dialogue with the self and clarify, we are on the right path.  Sometimes
guilt acts as an excuse for us to apologize without really taking on the
responsibility for what happened; we pass on the responsibility to the
established norms, norms that in this case we haven't accepted as our own.
In any case, the solution to guilt is to take on self-responsibility.

Taking Responsibility, Overcoming Guilt

When you free yourself of guilt, you live in peace within. You take on
responsibility and stop sentencing (punishing) yourself internally with
feelings of guilt. *Taking on responsibility is constructive; it allows all
your potential to remain awake and flow.* You feel free and unburdened. When
you get it wrong, you can find different methods to relieve yourself of the
burden that it might imply. For example, *being sorry for or feeling sad for
something that you have done means that you are aware that you have acted
against your own wellbeing or that of another. Realizing it is good; it is
the base for any positive change.* The important thing is not to sentence
(punish) yourself. Learn the lesson. Say sorry, if it is the right thing.
Put it right.

Remember that yesterday has already passed. The past cannot be changed. You
can't swallow the words that you said, since you already said them. You
can't repeat the scene from yesterday in a different way because it already
happened and stayed recorded on the film of this world drama. Therefore,
don't repeat the words or the scene in your mind over and over again; doing
that, you keep alive something that is dead, since yesterday already stayed
behind. Learn from the error and commit yourself to you and to your life,
promising to yourself that you will not fall over the same stone again. You
will think about it before speaking or acting.
If there are people or situations that lead you to fall over the same stone
i.e. they lead you to make the same mistake, which was committed earlier,
again, *perhaps you will have to avoid them for a few days or a time, until
you have strengthened yourself and have the inner security that they will
not influence you.* This is not running away; it is wise knowing your
weaknesses and knowing that to get into similar situations with the same
people is only to repeat the same errors and to worsen your wellbeing and
that of the other. Trust in yourself. You can overcome these mistakes and
stop making them. It is a question of loving yourself and living. Out of
love, you stop hurting yourself and hurting the other.

Crying over past mistakes, you don't mend anything. Open yourself to
forgiveness. *Raise the level of your thoughts so that they don't keep you
in a state of sadness and loss of hope.* Don't allow your inner judge to
sentence (punish) you each time that you act, since that way you won't feel
free. Your judge that you carry within makes your life bitter; however, it
is you that gives this judge the capacity to exist. *If the inner judge is
in harmony with our conscience, it is good, because it wants to
protect us.*On creating guilt it warns us that we have broken a rule
of our code of
beliefs, values or behaviors. It alerts us to the fact that we are acting
against something important of ourselves. At those moments it helps us to
observe and question what is real, true, important and even sacred in our
life and for us.
(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Creating a Positive Atmosphere

To create a positive atmosphere at home or at office, while interacting with
your family members or colleagues, emerge positive energizing thoughts in
your mind like "I am a peaceful soul, child of the Supreme Soul, the ocean
of peace", "I am a loveful soul", "I am a blissful soul", "I am a powerful
soul", etc. These positive thoughts spread in your home and office in the
form of positive vibrations and have a positive influence on your family
members and colleagues also. As a result you can maintain your peaceful,
positive state even amidst actions and interactions with them. When you are
clearly established in this stage of self-respect (positive
consciousness), they will be more co-operative in your work and will have
greater respect for you. Obstacles from your surroundings will not affect
you.

Meditation

Imagine you are walking along a crowded platform in a train station.

You know that where you want to go to is the other end of the platform where
your train is waiting. You don't stop and talk to anyone on the way. If you
did you would be delayed. You would fail to arrive at your train if you
interacted with everyone on a platform that is continuously filled with new
people. Meditation is exactly like this. Just as you cannot empty the
platform of people just because you have a train to catch, you cannot just
empty your mind of all thoughts just because you want to get to the
destination (goal) or seat of your inner peace. Not at least until you are
able to practise meditation correctly.

Remind yourself that you are not your thoughts, you are not your feelings,
you are not your memories, you are not any of the voices in your head. You
are the creator and they your creation, but they are not you. In fact they
represent a platform of absolute strangers.

Experiencing God’s Presence

I need to understand that God is a person (although the Supreme Person),
like us, and not some formal or non-personal energy, with whom we cannot
communicate and have a relationship. If I know God's form, location and
‘sanskars’, I can direct my thoughts towards that One and immediately start
experiencing the connection. The sentiment expressed in the phrase, ‘O God,
wherever I am, you are with me', indicates the closeness of the soul and
God. It expresses the experience of the presence of God, in a similar way to
two lovers who carry each other in their hearts. In this way God's presence
is a spiritual experience that I can have wherever I am. It doesn't mean
literally that the Supreme Being is present in everything. It's a feeling
and not a fact. The sun is the source of our physical necessities. It
purifies the water, makes the plants grow to produce food and oxygen and
provides a suitable range of temperatures for our life here. To give life it
doesn't need to be present in every particle. Its effect in the form of
light and heat is felt throughout the solar system. In the same manner, for
the effective practice of Raja Yoga meditation (as taught by the Brahma
Kumaris) God is seen as a sun of perfect ‘sanskars’, the source of spiritual
qualities and powers and, as such, doesn't need to be present in everything.
Even though His residence is the soul world, God can be with me since the
sense of closeness is beyond physical dimensions. One thought and I can
experience Him in the soul world and be in His presence!

Motivation

The example of an iceberg shows the need to see under people's surface
behaviour; the need of a deeper insight.

Only 10% of an iceberg is visible on the surface, 90% is under the
waterline, invisible, but yet prominent.  If there is a wind coming from
left to right, just by seeing the visible mass, we think it will move the
iceberg to towards the right.  If, against all expectations, the iceberg
moves in the opposite direction (left), it is because, under the waterline,
there is a strong current running towards the left.

Sometimes you, as a leader, try to move people in a certain direction by
giving them orders, instructions, explanations and encouragement, but you do
it on the basis of what you see above the surface. The visible part
represents what is at the surface such as appearance, behaviour, manners
etc.  You do not see what moves them under the surface so you become
surprised and maybe frustrated seeing them move in the opposite direction.
The main part, which is the 90% not visible, is within the subconscious.
Under the surface (subconscious) you will find emotions, fears, attitudes,
deeply held values etc.

If you want to move people, if you want to motivate others for a project or
even just to reach others, you need to be aware of these kinds of things
that you find under the surface. The key to understanding others better is
to be more aware of your own feelings and under-currents, because, at a deep
level, we are very much alike. If you understand your own fears and strong
motivators, you will understand others much better.

Practical Exercise On Intellect Reawakening And Empowerment

It has been estimated that for around 80% of our daily routine we are
‘ruled’ by habits. *This means that most of the time we go straight from
thought (created by the mind) to action, without checking the quality of our
thoughts.* *In this way, we bypass the intellect, and do not use our
capacity to judge right from wrong and to make conscious decisions. *What we
need to do now is reawaken, use and empower the intellect, which is true
spiritual empowerment.

*Practical Exercise
*Withdraw your attention from everything around you.  Create a simple
thought in your mind.   Concentrate on the thought. Then use your intellect
to judge to what extent the thought is right or wrong and what the quality
of that thought is (is it a negative thought, a waste or unnecessary
thought, a necessary thought, a positive one etc.?).   If you decide it is
not a good thought, leave it and create a better thought. In this way, you
consciously exercise control of your mind and intellect thereby
strengthening your ‘mental’ and ‘intellectual’ capacities. This will also
help you regain your feelings of ‘rule’ over the self.

If thoughts or images come from your memories or from sources outside your
own mind while you are busy in this inner exercise, don't give them any
mental energy. Let them go and bring your attention back to your own
‘conscious’ creation (mentioned above).

Once, you have mastered this in this exercise; try the same process while
you busy in your daily routine.

Transforming The Other’s Anger

*In meditation, when I connect with God, I absorb His spiritual love and
peace, which causes my own original qualities, which are present in me, the
soul, in my pure state when I begin the playing of roles through physical
bodies on the world stage, to come to the forefront or to the surface, to
emerge in the conscious from the sub-conscious.* As a result, now, where
previously there would have been conflict, I have a greater capacity to
remain peaceful when another person behaves in an unpleasant way with me. I
have the power to stay mentally and emotionally stable when someone provokes
or insults me. This power is enormously valuable in life, enabling me to
cool heated situations, and even remove another person's anger altogether.

*Instead of focusing on the anger on a person's face, I focus my attention
to the non-physical, star-like being or soul within the person, which was
peaceful and loveful in its original, pure state.* This increases my
tolerance and acceptance power. Also, through my meditation, I am actively
aware of the spiritual bond all human beings share, as souls who have a
common home of peace, the incorporeal (non-physical) home, from where all of
souls come and a common connection with the One Supreme Father, the Supreme
Soul. Through this knowledge, I connect with the goodness in the other soul
and my love for the soul is maintained. I realize that this goodness is a
deeper reality than the anger. The truth is *that if I can hold this
soul-conscious vision steady for long enough, I radiate positive energy to
the other soul, which works like magic and awakens the goodness within the
other person*. Then, my tolerance bears fruit and peace really does prevail
between the two of us.

Meditation Exercise To Experience Peace

It is important when meditating not to go too quickly, rather to be slow
-the slowness allows for depth and ease. Relax the body in a comfortable
position and gently, very gently concentrate on the centre of the forehead.


Very slowly create these thoughts: 
'I relax. I am calm. I begin my journey inward - my journey into silence. In
this silence, the mind concentrates on the thought - the thought of the
original self, the spiritual self.

Who am I … Gently, I begin to experience the eternal being within … Om … I
am … I am a spiritual being… a soul ... shanti … a being of peace, a
sparkling star of spiritual light, situated at the centre of the forehead,
just above the eyebrows ... peace is my original strength ... I, the soul
... a point of eternal energy … I am the essence of peace ... peace is
harmony ... peace is balance ... peace is serenity ... content ... complete
… full ... As my thought, so my consciousness ... Let me remain in this
thought: Om shanti … peace and silence. ... I remain still, I radiate rays
of peace all around ... I remain in complete peace: ... Om shanti’

Remember to do this exercise slowly, giving yourself time when you are not
in a hurry. The mind and thoughts may go in other directions, but gently
re-focus them, to realize the 'Om Shanti' consciousness, the original
consciousness of peace.
Like learning a language, meditation requires systematic and patient
practice on a daily basis to receive true benefit. If it is only done once
in a while, or only in a state of need, then the state of being peaceful is
not easily achieved. Rarely is anything learnt, or mastered, immediately.
Therefore, it is important not to give up even if it does not seem to work.
Just keep trying and gradually it comes by itself. Set aside 15 minutes in
the morning and in the evening to practice this. As it becomes easier to do
then you can increase the amount of time.

Positive Thinking

It is important to clarify some misconceptions regarding positive thinking,
since some people think that a positive thinker always goes round with a
good-natured smile on their face thinking that everything is hunky-dory.
Whatever happens, they will just tell you to keep smiling. Others believe
that positive thinking turns us into timid and weak people.

It is not like that though. The more we understand and experiment with our
own inner qualities and powers, the stronger we become and less we depend on
others. Knowing our own weaknesses can also help us to become stronger and
more stable people.

*Why do we want to be positive? *Because being positive means being in
harmony. Just as our bodies are 80 per cent water and this is the element
that we most need daily, so our inner selves also need positivity, because
that is what it is.

We spend our lives in search of peace, happiness, love, truth and knowledge,
our most genuine qualities. What we are looking for in our lives, what we
are longing for, we already possess in our inner selves. We simply have to
rediscover it through reflection and meditation.
Positive thinking is a mental attitude. It is a way of seeing life. It means
doing things with assertiveness. It is a way of behaving and taking a
position before events, situations and people.

Self Empowerment

*Our **internal strengths** create the foundation on which we make our
decisions in life, how we relate to others and how we understand ourselves.
For most people their strengths are understood but never made very
conscious. They lie below the surface and are not openly talked about.
Bringing them into our conscious understanding improves our process of **
self-empowerment**. *

*To **realize and review your strengths**, sit comfortably in a pleasant
atmosphere and answer silently the following questions: *
*A. Look back into the past and remember the times when you experienced your
greatest successes. List the unique talents or strengths, which you made use
of at those times. *
*B. List the specific features, which you admire in yourself. *
*C. If you were to take the opinion of your family, friends and colleagues,
what strengths would they say that you have?*
*D. List your most valuable assets. *
*E. Now examine your answers and summarize. **What are your main strengths?*

The Dynamics Of Greed

*Deficiencies inside us bring about a spiritual void or the lack of
wholeness (fullness).* As we lay the foundation of our lives on deficiencies
or weaknesses, the result is suffering, sorrow and peacelessness. If we act
in harmony with spiritual virtues and qualities, the result is cooperation,
happiness, peace, contentment and finally, wholeness.

*A spiritual void leads to selfishness and causes the creation of greed
inside us.* We want to have more and possess more, which generates a state
of expectation and stress. We fill our lives with things and objects to
cover up deeper deficiencies. Then we are afraid of losing them. We generate
expectations of all kinds, and when they are not fulfilled we react with
anger, frustration, fear or disappointment. The inner emptiness makes us
become greedy. We fill ourselves with objects, properties, things. *We take
and consume more than what we can give to the Universe in the form of
positive thoughts, feelings, vibrations, actions etc. and this brings about
imbalances in the self, in relation to others and with nature.*
Something similar happens on a physical level. The body has a capacity to
recycle and eliminate waste through different mediums. However, since we
consume more toxins than the body can process, it leads to imbalance and we
are more prone to feeling physically ill and unfit and developing diseases
etc.

Controlling Your Emotions

 There are five essential steps to emotional control and mastery. Although
the complete process will finally happen in a few seconds in real life, it
is essential for our learning to break it down and see what is required at
every step.

*Step One – Awareness*
This simply means being aware of the emergence of the subtlest (finest) of
emotions, which, if left unchecked, will grow into important disturbances.
For example irritation leads to frustration leads to anger leads to rage.

*Step Two – Acknowledge *
Which means taking responsibility for the emotion by understanding and
acknowledging that I am the creator of the emotion, not someone or something
else.

*Step three – Acceptance*
Fully accept the presence of the emotion without resisting (opposing) it in
any way. If it is resisted it simply becomes stronger, or is suppressed for
another day.

*Step Four – Ascend*
This is the moment of full detachment from both the emotion and the inner
source of emotion. In the process of detached observation the emotion is
losing its power. And it is only through detached observation that the
emotion will begin to dissolve.
*Step Five – Attune*
This means returning our attention to the very centre of ourselves where our
inner peace and power are to be found. This is the purpose of meditation.

Qualities, Virtues And Powers

 Innate or basic characteristics are properties that are unchangeable. It's
impossible to take the heat out of the sun or sweetness out of sugar. Heat
and sweetness are part of the unchanging make-up of the sun and sugar
respectively; they are the basic properties of each of them. In the same
way, in spite of whatever I have become as a human individual, my deep basic
characteristics are still the same ones that have always existed in me. It's
my inner core of qualities that in fact inspires me to seek the ideal in
whatever I do. The impulse to seek and to dream comes from my own store of
innate attributes that is just waiting to be found and brought into
practical activity.

*The innate qualities of the soul are those that are the most basic: Peace,
Truth, Happiness, Love, Purity, Power and Bliss.* *They are so basic that
they themselves are the foundation of all virtues and powers. *They are like
primary colors and *virtues* and *powers* are secondary colors. Just as
orange (a secondary color) is made of red and yellow (both primary colors)
and blue is made of yellow and green, virtues such as patience, tolerance,
courage, generosity etc. and powers, are obtained by mixing the basic
qualities *e.g. *

Patience - peace, love and, power

Humility – love, peace and truth

Courage - power and truth

The aim of meditation is to emerge and enhance my *qualities* so that my
behavior becomes full of *virtues* and *powers*.

Connecting With The Supreme Source

The Supreme Source (Supreme Soul) has the power to remind us of what we were
because His original state of being is permanent; He never forgets Himself,
is never polluted and remains forever true to Himself in the state of
spiritual or soul consciousness. As a result, He is the copy of what we
were, of what we are to become. Very simply, the qualities of peace, love,
purity, happiness and truth are there in Him, visible and available to those
who wish to tune in and receive.

*What we remember, we become, and so it is important to remember the right
things. Number one on the list is thoughts of the original self and the
Supreme Source.*

Imagine two points of energy (light): one here on the earth, in time and
matter, and the other beyond the earth, in another world of silence and
peace. When these two points connect through the power of thought and
feeling there is a union, which allows for a flow of energy and the
experience of our true being. 'I, the soul, the point, am here and the
Supreme Soul, also a point of energy (light), is up there'. However, love
and remembrance bring such closeness that there is no feeling of distance or
separation.
To achieve remembrance that empowers (strengthens), we need to plug in every
day to the Supreme Source in silence, in a way that is beyond ritual or
sound. It is a personal connection, which requires no audience and no rules,
only an honest heart. When a person has a positive intention (purpose), the
plug of love fits into the socket and the self receives whatever it needs,
whatever is useful for it to create and sustain a life of quality.

What Is ‘Clean Communication’?

 With the self covered by the clouds of so many external influences and many
of its own negative beliefs and past experiences, the self is normally
unclear about its own self. *The light of spiritual knowledge brings clarity
to the self, about the self*. *This helps me to communicate with others much
more clearly than when I am not sure or clear about what is going on inside
me.* There is a direct connection between the quality of subtle activities
in the form of *thoughts* and *feelings* going on inside me and the quality
of my interaction and communication with others.
Very importantly, relationships are also connected with *attitude* and *
vision*. Sometimes, I may feel I have said and done the right things to
someone, yet still someone is not behaving towards me as I would wish. At
such times I need to check my attitude towards that person and the vision
with which I am seeing them. I may find inside a slight feeling of
disapproval towards that person, a feeling of discomfort, a resistance to
something in their personality. Neither of us may be conscious of it, but my
negative feeling casts a shadow on the other person. They are not receiving
the acceptance or respect from me, that they should (on a subtle level),
although externally I may be showing them a lot of respect. This subtle lack
of acceptance and respect from my end influences their ability to hear me
clearly (on a subtle level), and the way they behave towards me. *The
practice of meditation enables me to clean out my thoughts, feelings,
attitudes and vision, ensuring that what I share with others on a physical
and on a subtle level is positive.* Then it is much easier for me to connect
with others and for others to connect with me in a positive way. This is
called *‘Clean Communication’*.

Focus, Will Power And Capabilities

 In order to bring about a fundamental (major) change three elements need to
exist simultaneously:
*Focus:* A clear sense of purpose in life and clear goals to guide your
life's activities.
*Will:* The motivation and enthusiasm to introduce and sustain the actions.
*Capabilities:* The skills and abilities to fulfill your purpose and goals.
*But where do you start? There is definitely a right place to begin and that
is with your **focus**. Why? Because if your focus** **is powerful and based
on a very deep sense of your inner most purpose in life, then that will
provide you with the **will** power you need to keep going. Then if you have
a clear driving **focus **in life and lots of **will **power to back it up,
you will soon develop the skills and **capabilities** you need to make it
happen. You may not have them yourself, but your enthusiasm and passion will
certainly inspire others who do have them to join you.*

Meditation And Health

Given below is a simple meditation commentary which can be used to heal the
physical body. Think slowly and visualize side by side each positive thought
given below before moving on:

I sit quietly and turn inwards........
I visualize a pinpoint of light, a sparkling star, the source of pure energy
that I am........
located in the center of my forehead........
In this awareness, white rays of the divine light of purity from me extend
into my entire physical body in the form of a laser beam........
These vibrations of purity soothe, heal and energize my physical
system........
The impurities, toxins and illnesses in the body are being washed away and
thrown out from the extremities (corners) of the body........
The body starts experiencing its original inner beauty........
It returns to a state of harmony (peace), to a state of good health......

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).

Identity Crisis

 The primary quality or the original condition of a pure mind, a pure self,
is peace. Initially there was no confusion about 'who I am'. As time passed
by, and we came in the process of birth and rebirth, we began to identify
with what we are not, starting with our own physical form, and then with
external things like lands, positions, material possessions and people.
These multiple identities generated the first confusions. In those moments,
our inner peace was broken. This is why today so many people suffer from an
identity crisis, but are so used to living in this crisis that they are not
even aware that it is a crisis. They are not sure what they should be. They
are constantly comparing themselves with others. They regularly aim to be
like others. They even imitate (copy) the lifestyles of others: all signs
that they don't know who or what they are. And if they think they are sure
about who they are, the stability it brings does not last for long, as it is
almost always based on 'something' external to the 'self’, something that
must therefore be subject to change. In other words each and every one of us
has learned to identify with something we are not.
This loss of true self-identity, at the most deep level, the spiritual
level, is what gives rise to fear. And when what we fear might happen
actually does happen, we get angry and try to control what we cannot
control, so that it doesn't happen again.

Positive Thinking

The sun is a suitable image for positive thinking. The visualization
described below uses a sunlit landscape as a comparison for the four levels
of thoughts we create (positive, necessary, waste and negative). It can be
used to increase your percentage of positive thoughts everyday.
1. Visualize a beautiful valley with a lake, forested foothills and high
mountains rising up into the clouds. This is the landscape of your mind.

2. Your position in this landscape and the form in which you are displayed
depends on the quality of your thoughts. Are you a fish swimming in the
muddy depths of the lake (negative thoughts)? Are you a frog jumping back
and forth from the shore to the lake (wasteful thoughts)? A human, wandering
into the forest to gather food and build a shelter (necessary thoughts)? Or
the sun, which sustains (nourishes) all life on earth (positive thoughts)?

The Key To Mental Freedom – Spiritual Knowledge

 The world is full of many wonders; incredible works of art and
architecture, of science and invention, but the greatest of them all by far
is the human mind. *It is the mind's play that brings about all activity in
the human world.* The outline of everything people construct is first formed
in the mind and then filled in with matter to assume a concrete shape.
History, science, culture, trade and commerce, in fact all knowledge and
systems of our day-to-day world, are but the projection and fulfillment of
thoughts born in the mind. *If the mind, by concentrating itself on matter,
can bring about such wonders and attain such miraculous physical powers as
we have, what can it not attain if it concentrates on itself and on the
Supreme!*

Disorder and tension on the individual level and as a result on the social
level are the result of ignorance of the self and the world around, such
that the mind stays without rest. It runs, jumps and churns aimlessly,
lashed by waves of feelings and emotions. Like a spider caught in its own
web, the individual becomes entangled in nets which are the consequences
(results) of this ignorance of the self and the fundamentals of life. *When
we receive spiritual knowledge from the seed of the tree of humanity, the
Supreme Being or God at the present time*, we begin an upward journey that
takes us through deeper and deeper levels of understanding and experience
which create freedom from these nets. This freedom, as a result helps us
create a positive future, not only for ourselves but we also take up the
responsibility of creating the same for the complete tree of humanity, which
is primarily the purpose why God shares this knowledge with us.

Discover Your Inner Mentor (Guide) – A Meditation

*If you can become your own mentor (guide), a mentor that you would always
have liked to have, then you will experience life as an exciting adventure.
*What would happen if you had someone in your life that walked with you each
step of your way, loved you unconditionally and supported you without
putting conditions, even when you were wrong? What would happen if you felt
absolutely safe, secure, cared for and loved? Would you be more willing to
accept the challenges that life brings forth in front of you? Would you take
on your life with greater responsibility and confidence?

*Your internal mentor is a part of you and is always present, always kind,
always loves you, is always there for you.* If you still haven't met it,
take a moment to guide yourself through this *meditation exercise*:

1. Relax your body and allow yourself to be fully present, here, reading
these words, listening to the sounds around you, feeling what you feel. Read
slowly!

2. Now send love to each part of your body: your feet, your lungs, your
back, your face, your eyes, your nose, until you feel the love from your
feet to your head.

3. Now send love to each thought that appears on the screen of your mind,
visualize how your energy is concentrated at the inner part of the centre of
your forehead. See the screen of your mind, and try to make each thought
that you generate full of the energy of love that is slowly invading you.
The energy of love is present in each thought that appears in your mind.

Love what you yourself create: each thought.

4. *By practicing the above exercise, you emerge ‘sanskars’ inside yourself
of giving unconditional love and support to your own self. This is a way to
awaken your inner mentor.* As you practice spending time with yourself in
this way, you will start to see that your insecurity and your fears begin to
disappear and new possibilities open up in front of you.

Instruments/Tools To Perceive God

Perhaps I have been avoiding coming close to God because of the
extraordinary confusion surrounding the subject. Maybe I have just lacked
the tools with which to be able to discover God. The whole universe of
things going on within a tiny drop of blood can be instantly revealed by the
use of a tool or an instrument like the microscope. In the same way, the
secrets behind realities of the self, the non-physical, spiritual self and
the reality of God remain hidden until undiscovered by the appropriate
instruments or tools. *With which tools or instruments then, can I perceive
or experience God?* *Since God is non-physical, the tools would also
definitely be non-physical in nature.*

That I haven't been able to understand myself is amply demonstrated by the
periods of confusion and inner turmoil I go through.  Sometimes I don't
understand those with whom I share the same room or house, let alone my
neighbors next door! The word ‘misunderstanding’ occurs frequently even in
the closest of my relationships. It indicates that the quality of my mind,
consciousness or even conscience hasn't been sufficiently clear to establish
real rapport between myself and others. The realization and experience of
God remain even further out of reach.

There's a very specific methodology involved in firstly understanding and
organizing myself, and from that, coming to terms with God. *I already have
the most powerful of all instruments, the energy of my own mind, to work
with. The extent to which I am able to research into the subject of
God-realization depends on the quality of my thoughts and feelings.*

The Law of Expectation

The Law of Expectation
*In* *our relationships with others, it is good to want the best: "I hope
you do very well, I am sending you my positive energy and this is my way of
encouraging you and giving you courage. However, if you don't achieve what I
think you are capable of, I will not feel frustrated. I will not be
dependent on you satisfying my expectations, but I will always want the best
for you."

If you have faith and confidence that something will happen, it is a
prophecy that must come true. The expectations we have of someone, whether
negative or positive, do have an effect on the person we are relating to.

Many investigations into this question confirm the influence that the
expectations of educators have, both in the performance and in the behaviour
of their students. Everything points to the conclusion that the teacher's
expectations form one of the most influential factors in the academic
performance of their students. If a teacher expects good results from their
students, their performance will be much closer to their real capacity than
if their teacher is expecting poor results.

The Relationship Between The Soul And The Body – Explained With Interesting Examples

"Human being" means the consciousness, the soul or "being" (living energy),
experiencing life through the physical body, the "human" (non-living). The
body is perishable and temporary, whereas the soul is eternal and without
physical dimension.

·         *The soul is the driver; the body is the car. *

·         *The soul is the actor; the body is its costume. *

·         *The soul is a diamond; the body is the jewelry box. *

·         *The soul is the musician; the body is the instrument. *

·         *The soul is the guest; the body is the hotel.*

·         *The soul is the deity; the body is the temple.*

I can use a knife to chop vegetables. I can use the same knife to kill
someone. The knife neither decides (outwards) nor experiences (inwards), but
can be washed easily under water. Now look at the fingers which held the
knife. They neither decide nor experience the actions. They too can be
washed under water. It's easy to realize that the knife is an instrument,
but it is more difficult to realize that the fingers as well as the arms are
instruments too. The legs are instruments for walking, the eyes for seeing,
the ears for hearing, the mouth for speaking, the tongue for tasting, the
heart for pumping food and oxygen (via blood) around the body, and so on.
Even the brain is an instrument used like a computer to express all thought,
word and action programs through the body and to experience the results. If
every physical part of the body is an instrument, who or what is it that is
using this instrument? Very simply it is "I", the self, the soul. The soul
uses the word "I" for itself and the word "my" when referring to the body;
"my" hands, "my" eyes, "my" brain, etc. "I" am different from "my" body.