Meditation
Though the mind often asks for what is visible or
material, its needs are deeper and cannot be met by
anything superficial or short term. Meditation leads to
a meeting point with all that is true and eternal.
Smile
When faced with problems it seems very difficult to
maintain the inner cheer and the mind is caught up with
more and more negativity, either fear or worry. Because
of this, firstly, the problem looks bigger than it is
and secondly, there is an inability to find solutions
and work constructively to solve the problem. The first
step I need to take when I recognize that there is a
problem, is to smile to myself. When I make sure I am
happy within knowing that every situation will pass away
and it surely has something to teach me, I will find
solutions quicker and easier.
The Practice Of Meditation - cont.
As explained yesterday, we regularly and quite easily
slip into four main negative habits. So meditation
is not only sitting in a quiet corner, and connecting
with the self and the Supreme, at a couple of fixed
times during the day, but it is also the way to
gently remember and remind ourselves, many times in a
day, that we as well as others, are souls or spiritual
beings not physical beings, by detaching ourselves
from actions and also while being involved in actions.
These reminders given to the self over a period of time
become natural and prevent us from succumbing to these
four habits. Given below is a basic meditation, which
you could use to remind yourself regularly during the
day:
I have a body but this body is not me...
I have thoughts but these thoughts are not me ...
I have feelings but these feelings are not me ...
I have attitudes but these attitudes are not me ...
I have emotions but these emotions are not me ...
I have beliefs but these beliefs are not me ...
I perform many actions through my sense organs, but
these sense organs are not me...
I play many roles but I am not my roles...
I experience joy or sorrow through my sense organs, but
these experiences are not me ...
I am a soul - a being of energy, which is neither
created nor can be destroyed, and my original and true
nature is one of peace, love, joy and power...
Soul Sustenance
While the mind and intellect are two faculties of the
soul which play their role on the surface of our
consciousness; at a deeper level, hidden beneath these
two faculties, there lies a third faculty commonly
called the sanskaras. The sanskaras is not only a
store house of personality traits, as we commonly know
it to be, but a store house of millions and millions of
impressions or imprints. Such a large number of
impressions are created by millions of experiences that
I go through my sense organs not only in this life but
in all my lifetimes. Everything that I hear, see,
touch, taste, etc. I process or analyze or summarize in
my own unique way; basically I give the experiences a
unique form depending on my personality, before this
form gets stored in the form of impressions inside me.
I even process my subtle experiences, which are in the
form of thoughts and feelings.
This process of experiencing and processing takes place
during each and every second of my life including the
time I sleep, when my mind may not be experiencing a lot
but it is busy processing the physical and subtle
experiences of the day that has gone by and storing the
processed information in the form of impressions. From
this, one can get an idea of the magnitude of the
database of impressions stored within me, the being.
These imprints which are unique to me, make up my
sanskaras, and shape up my unique personality in a
cyclic process. My personality shapes what type of
impressions are created out of my experiences and the
impressions in turn shape my personality, my thoughts,
words and actions e.g. if I constantly keep the company
of people who gossip, a large number of respective
impressions based on the experience of gossiping keep
getting stored inside me, which in turn influence my
personality, the personality characteristic gets
stronger and over a period of time I do not find
anything wrong with it and indulge in it more and more.
As a result more such impressions get stored. Thus it is
a cyclic process.
Message for the day
The one with true mercy fills hope even in the ones who
are hopeless.
Expression:
When we see someone who is in need or who is totally
negative, a case that is totally hopeless, there are a
lot of feelings aroused within us. What we feel is pity
or hatred, which are only negative feelings. Such
negative thoughts don't help in anyway and the person
remains as he is, unable to take any benefit from us.
Experience:
Instead of having pity or hatred we need to develop true
mercy for others. To have mercy means to have good
wishes with love - combined with hope for them. It is
our hope that enables them to develop faith in
themselves too. This is the method to bring progress
even in the most hopeless case.