Smile
In life you will meet many people. All are significant.
They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say "hello".
Meditation - A Process Of Cleansing, Dialogue And
Joining (cont.)
Meditation can be defined as a process of cleansing,
a process of dialogue and a process of joining. Today we
take up:
Joining
We can take the third meaning of meditation from the
Sanskrit word yoga. By understanding this word, we learn
how to get divine cooperation, or put in another way, a
certain external spiritual power that can liberate us
and help us to dialogue positively with the self
(explained yesterday). The word yoga means "bringing
together" or "joining again". Joining again with
what or with whom? Firstly, with our original and
eternal self: the soul, and secondly, with the eternal
Supreme Source of all positive power and energy; this
Source helps us to recharge ourselves with energy and to
know ourselves.
At this time in the history of humanity, humans have
lost the mastery and control over themselves. They do
not have continual peace or a sense of purpose,
happiness or fullness. The human soul needs to be
recharged.
Although the soul has great potential in its inner
self, it needs a source of external energy for the
latent (hidden) powers and virtues to emerge, just
as occurs with seeds in nature. The seeds of plants and
trees have their own source of inner energy. However,
this energy cannot be released without the actions of an
external energy source, in this case the energy of the
sun. Through the power of sunlight, the seeds in the
earth will sprout and flourish.
The human body has its own energy, but needs external
sources of energy on a daily basis: air, sunlight, water
and food. Without these external sources, the human body
would die. The external source of power that helps
the latent virtues emerge in the human being is not
physical, since the human soul is not physical either.
This source of power has traditionally been called God
or the Supreme Being: in fact it has been given many
names.
(To be continued tomorrow....)
Soul Sustenance
Adopting a Wiser Perception
Depending on my choice of perception, I may see life as
a battleground, where I face a constant battle from
morning to night. The constant to and fro between family
and work may tire me emotionally and mentally. If I let
it and see it that way, life can also itself become the
cause or source of my tensions. It may
even seem as if the path of life is scattered with rocks
blocking my way. Instead of stepping around or over
them, I perceive them as being obstacles. The thoughts
may come easily to my mind - 'If it was not for
so-and-so or such-and-such, I would be able to...'. I
may mention the same to my loved ones. Instead of
bringing me any benefit, these complaints take me away
from the power that I, the soul, have within of changing
anything. I simply pass on my capacity to change, to
persons or objects over whom or which I obviously have
no control.
If I am fortunate to have a wiser perception which
spirituality can give me, life can become a great place
to learn and grow. Behind seemingly difficult
situations are my major lessons. Disguised in routine
tasks are the sign boards that point me back towards
truth.
Relationships that bring with them repeated scenes of
negativity with the same person and for the same reasons
show me the weaknesses I have to work on. Indeed,
until I work on the eradication of my weaknesses, I keep
repeating them. Challenges do come, but they help to
bring out the best in me. If I have the subtle eyes
to see and the courage to go forward... life is a
constant experience of reminders and benefits to
progress along the road to my highest consciousness.
Message for the day
The one who is wise is free from wasteful talk about
others.
Projection:
When someone relates something to us about another
person's negativity, we tend to listen to it with great
interest. We, then, find that the other person is
greatly encouraged to speak about it. But such waste
talk is not really useful for anyone and we find that
there is no solution for the problem at hand.
Solution:
When someone is talking about the negativity in another
person we need to question ourselves if listening to
this is of any use to us or if we can do anything about
the situation. If we cannot do anything we need to
remind ourselves that there is no use listening to such
waste talk. Instead we need to make an attempt to look
at the positive aspect in the other person so that the
other person can see that, too.
Food for the Soul
Each and every day we take special care to give food to
the body. We are aware of the time when we don't give it
enough food. But we are not as much aware of the
spiritual food that we need to give to ourselves. So
when there is any attack from the outside, the mind is
too weak to withstand it. To read or hear something good
everyday goes a long way in making the mind healthy and
happy. Also to think and churn on it makes it easy for
us to remember what we have heard and it keeps us so
healthy that when difficult situations do come our way
we am able to face them with our own inner strength.