01.09.2014

Beachy Head, England
Protect Yourself
Protect yourself from useless and negative thoughts by
maintaining a positive attitude.
Experiencing A Spiritual Lifestyle Without Renouncing
Society
A good meditator is one who has a mental link or union
with the internal self and the Supreme Soul or God who
is the source of all goodness. This, along with an
understanding of the laws of action or the laws of
karma, which govern the behavior of souls, means
that one does not have to renounce or leave society in
order to achieve enlightenment. Rather, the soul
filled with spiritual illumination faces society
directly with understanding and the generosity to serve
it and to elevate (improve) it.
The soul becomes elevated not by the renunciation of
responsibilities or worldly duties but by a
renunciation of the negativity that exists within the
role being played by it in society. A good meditator
does not try to escape social obligations (duties) but
rather purifies those duties by becoming filled
with light, love, peace and happiness. The stage of
self-awareness and God-communication injects a subtle
richness into one's life-patterns.
There are those who believe that the elevated state is
beyond society and its duties. They find a quiet spot in
the jungle or an ashram and contemplate (think
about) deeper things. There are others who are stuck in
the quicksand of their problems, and believe that those
who leave society and take up a spiritual lifestyle are
saints. However, holiness and virtue are qualities
attained in one's life situations, not in running
away from them. The elevated state is not merely a
matter of elevated thoughts (which can be experienced in
a sanyas), but elevated actions also, for the
benefit of the self and the world. We are what we do and
not so much what we imagine ourselves to be.
Soul Sustenance
The Spiritual Sculptor and The Piece Of Art
A sculpture is a three-dimensional artwork created by an
artisan, a sculptor, by shaping materials which may be
hard like wood or stone or soft like clay. God or the
Supreme Being also has been remembered as the spiritual
sculptor. With that consciousness, I being like a rough
living block of wood or stone or a plain piece of clay,
place myself in his safe hands. There are three types
of faith in this consciousness:-
1. the faith in the Sculptor,
2. the faith in myself and
3. the faith in time.
It's my first faith, my faith in the Sculptor, in his
vision of his finished work i.e. a perfect and complete
me, which he foresees, waiting to emerge from my present
imperfect self, that allows me place myself in his
hands. His vision of perfection is so clear that
knowing it, I feel I must regain my original condition.
Also when I come in front of God, who is a perfect
spiritual being, his love and the knowledge he gives me
makes me aware of myself as a spiritual being similar to
him. This awareness then reminds me of my original
qualities and the spiritual beauty and perfection hidden
inside me, which helps me in having the second faith,
the faith in myself. I am able to trust the Sculptor,
knowing that the knocks I receive will chip away at my
weaknesses, and restore my truth and beauty.
Initially, I may not know myself completely or have full
faith in myself, the second faith, but God, the
Sculptor, knows me and has full faith in me, all the
Sculptor wants me to do is to be still and patient.
Being still means having complete faith in myself and
him and being patient means having the third faith - the
faith in time. His knowledge and power gives me the
strength and courage to be still and patient i.e. strong
in all three faiths while he continues his work on me. I
should not move or be impatient i.e. not let any of my
faiths waiver, otherwise I will not become perfect.
There is a vast difference between how God sees me, and
how I am at the present moment. Holding the vision that
God has of me, I have to just surrender my mind to the
Spiritual Sculptor and keep myself in his hands. When
I do that, the thoughts inside my mind get focused
spiritually on him and as a result I receive his
spiritual energy, which reshapes and transforms me.
That which is highest and most beautiful in me begins to
emerge gradually.
Message for the day
To become worthy of blessings means to make success
easy.
Projection:
Thinking of benefit for the self increases to such an
extent that it sometimes takes on the form of
selfishness. When we are selfish we stop thinking about
others or the effect that our action is going to have on
them. Then we are not able to move forward with
lightness because the good wishes and blessings of
others are not with us.
Solution:
In each and every action of ours we need to first check
if it is going to be beneficial for us as well as for
others. As much as there is benefit for others too in
the task that we are doing, that much the good wishes of
others will be there for the task. With these good
wishes we will be able to move forward much faster and
achieving success will be easy.
Control
Usually when I talk about control I only think of
controlling others or situations, I rarely ever think of
self-control. Again controlling the self is understood
as something difficult and painful. So I force myself to
change or adapt my thoughts, words and behavior with a
great deal of difficulty. This further makes it
difficult for me to have the interest for self-control.
To have control over myself means to be a master. My
thoughts, words and behavior need to be according to my
orders. This is real self-control. For this I need the
practice of being a master and not to become a slave to
anything, even if it is mine. The more I practice the
consciousness of being a master, everything that is mine
will naturally obey my orders.