
Inner Beauty
"Wow...that's beautiful!" Is either a cry or a
thought when faced with the mountain sunset, a
spectacular view or a well formed man or woman.
But where is the beauty, where is the
appreciation of beauty, where is the ability to
discern beauty? It is within our own
consciousness. For the essence of who and what
we are, is beauty itself. The essence of beauty
is not found in the body, a face or a mountain -
they only stir the essence of beauty within our
own spirit. And that beauty is not only
something we taste within ourselves, but it
emerges in our character as virtue, and in our
life as care. For what is virtue, but love in
action? The next time you say, "That's
beautiful!" know that you speak of yourself, and
it is you who are beautiful. Always were, always
will be.
Inner Landscape
The ability to enjoy one's own company is one of
the greatest gifts life has to offer. `Learning
to turn our thoughts away from all our
responsibilities at the day's end and take our
mind into a state of peace and benevolence
enables us to carry greater and greater loads
without feeling burdened. When our inner
landscape is full of beautiful thoughts,
everything we do is a pleasure. Gently, we calm
down chaotic situations and offer solace to
troubled minds.
The Five Primary Qualities
The soul has five primary
qualities; we could say they are the primary
colours of humanity with which we paint the
picture of our lives. They are:
Peace
This is the original quality of the soul. Peace
is serenity, the personal inner state of
non-violence. In this state of peace, I
harmonize with everything and everyone around
me. The word 'shanti' means peace, and it is
this thought (or word) we use as the key step in
meditation.
Purity
A state of honesty and cleanliness where I am
the same inside and outside, not deceiving
either myself, or others. Consequently, there is
no room for artificiality. Purity is the state
of original truth where no violence is committed
against others, nor can violence be committed
against me. When the self is in its original
purity, others cannot damage or destroy it, even
if they try, because there is a natural aura of
protection that acts as an invisible barrier.
When I achieve this level of purity, it means I
respect all things.
(To be continued tomorrow ....)
Soul Sustenance
Observing But Not Absorbing
To observe means we take a new, appropriate
mental position in whatever situation, or in
whatever relationship, we find ourselves. Observation
is a silent skill — a skill we need to learn if
we are to assess clearly what positive changes
are needed to be made in the self in a
particular situation or relationship.
If we fail to learn this art of observing, we
are likely to react and absorb ourselves in the
negativity of the person, or event. We get lost
in the quicksand of 'what's wrong?' which
prevents us from putting things right. As we
absorb and fill ourselves with negative emotion,
we become heavy and remain helplessly rooted to
the ground. The gravity of overload does not
allow us to rise above a situation and to
understand the reality of what is happening. As
a result, we lose perspective and overreact.
If we wish to understand how the mental position
of observation gives us the power of
perspective, we can look at the example of the
bird and the ant. The ant, extremely busy,
running here and there, scrambling over
everything in its rush to find and collect food,
will see only what is in front of its nose. The
bird, on the other hand, leaves the earth and,
as it flies higher and higher, starts to see the
bigger picture, compared to when it was on the
ground, or on the branch of a tree. Seeing the
whole picture, it has a completely different
perspective. It is only then that it can truly
see where to go and what to do. When we get
absorbed in a situation or relationship, we lose
perspective; we become like an ant, we get too
involved in the details, missing the obvious,
and cannot imagine, or think of other
possibilities.
Message for the day
The first step of courage is to consider oneself
fortunate at every step.
Expression:
The one who is courageous never has a doubt of
being fortunate. Even if there are difficult
situations and challenges, the faith of being
fortunate never fades away. This faith enables
such a person to recognize and use the available
resources in a worthwhile way. Even during
difficult situations, there is never a need to
stop as faith gives courage to move on.
Experience:
When I consider myself to be fortunate I never
experience fear in spite of difficult
situations. I am always happy with whatever is
happening. Along with it I also have the
enthusiasm to make effort to better the
situation. I never worry but am able to enjoy
each and every moment and make the best use of
it.