Age Gracefully
There is nothing more inevitable than the graying of
hair and the crinkling of
skin. Resisting it is like trying to hold back the tide
of the ocean. Accepting
it is the way into a graceful life and the possibility
of true Leisure! Our lives
are mostly without leisure as we succumb to the
marketing men and their
determination to convince us that the tide can be beaten
back, at the very
least, kept at bay. As a consequence we count the grays
and measure the
length and depth of the wrinkles. We spend our time and
attention on the
surface of our forms, and create the habits of anxiety
and worry as they
inevitably deteriorate. But when we truly know ourselves
as spirit within the
form, all those subtle tensions are dissolved. We never
age, never grow
old, and never die - only our bodies do. Knowing
ourselves as we truly are,
is the doorway to freedom and to the graceful acceptance
that we are
destined to inhabit and play many roles in many bodies.
Is that not both a
liberating and a relaxing insight? If you play with it,
explore it for truth,
meditate on it, seriously give it 'house room' in your
head, you may actually
experience yourself as a free spirit. And when you do
you will know true
relaxation.
Balance
To be balanced means not to be caught up with
extremities. When there
is balance, there is the ability to get the best of
every situation and
move forward with stability. Situations provide a means
of learning and
growth. So, the one who is balanced is safe from
negativity. When I
have balance, I enrich myself even with extreme negative
situations. I
experience constant progress and am also able to provide
an environment
for others' growth. This earns me the blessings and good
wishes from
all. I thus find myself moving with lightness.
Role Induced Stress - Part 1
A
very common form of stress which has raised its head in
recent years is
stress induced due to one's role. There was once a
famous movie actor, well
known as one of the best of all time and he was
obviously very much aware
of the same. One day as he was shooting for his new
film; his director, a
very prominent figure in the film-making arena,
mentioned to him that
there was a general perception spreading in the film
industry as well as in
the film going audiences that the actor was getting
older with time and his
performance was dropping and he needed to spruce up his
performances if
he had to compete with the younger actors. As soon as he
heard his, he
started taking his acting role and everything related to
it over seriously and
lost his happiness completely because he had been used
to listening only to
praises regarding his performances and reputation all
his life. He also
forgot all that the world had given him all his life,
all the love, respect and
adulation and became angry, bitter and resentful towards
everyone he met,
believing that they were no longer held those feelings
for him as much as
before. Also a general sense of fear and nervousness
started developed
inside him regarding his next performance.
One piece of information had changed him altogether.
What had gripped
him - Role Induced Stress. His emotion of stress was
made of three sub
emotions - sorrow, anger and fear (or worry). What was
the cause - he over
identified with his role. He believed he was an
extremely famous hero actor.
But was hero actor what he was? It's what he did. But he
learned to believe
it is what he is. Even we need to remind ourself that we
get to play
various roles on the world stage of action and that if
we overidentify
with any of the roles, which a lot of us do, then just
like
the actor, our creativity, spontaneity and lightness is
reduced
and we start to take things far too seriously, more than
necessary, and as a result get stressed.
(To be continued tomorrow ...)
Soul Sustenance
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.
Message for the day
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.