
President Barack Obama with Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
Take Time
Take time to laugh, it is the music of the soul.
Take time to think, it is the source of power.
Take time to read, it is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to love and be loved, it is a
God-given privilege.
Take time to work, it is the price of success.
Focus
While moving towards my destination, I tend to
get distracted with
even the little things that happen. Even a small
negative or positive
incident is enough to distract my thoughts from
my destination. I am
sometimes so busy with such things that my
vision moves away from my
destination and I stop moving forward. I need to
first clarify my
goal. Once I have done this, I need to take care
that my vision is
focused on it. Even when situations come by,
trying to distract me I
need to remind myself that these are only
side-scenes which are not
important for me. It is more important to keep
my energies focused
towards the goal.
The Alphabet of Change
Awareness - First, become aware of what
you need to change in yourself. What is
preventing you from attaining contentment? What
habits are blocking the way to realizing your
full potential?
Belief - Many people think that a change
in their personalities is extremely difficult.
But in fact it is a reality that lies within
your power. It might be useful to ask yourself
questions such as * What has held me back from
change in the past? and * What are the stages by
which I can bring change about?
Commitment - Motivation is the key to
commitment. We need to want to change, rather
than feel it is a duty to ourselves. Try writing
down a list of commitments in the form of
statements beginning with "I will". They should
come directly out of, and be connected with,
your overall vision.
Discipline - We cannot change unless we
are able to maintain a steady course over time.
Think of each sign as a major landmark passed.
Even if we find ourselves slipping into old
habits, that achievement of even a little bit of
change cannot be taken away.
Soul Sustenance
The Five Spiritual And Five Physical Elements
(Part 4)
As we have explained earlier in this series, the
Supreme Soul always remains an Ocean of the five
spiritual virtues or elements peace, purity,
wisdom, love and joy right through eternity.
The soul is made up of three faculties - the
mind, intellect and personality. Meditation
is a direct connection in which a human soul,
using the two faculties - the mind and the
intellect, connects with the most powerful
Supreme Source or Soul and draws spiritual power
from it. This absorbed spiritual power then
transforms the third faculty - the personality,
filling it with the five virtues mentioned
above. The more the spiritual power absorbed
the greater and faster is the filling up of
virtues. These virtues then become a balm which
heals the many different types of wounds of ego,
anger, hatred, hurt, jealousy, possessiveness,
greed, criticisms, desires, etc. which have left
their mark on the soul in this and many past
births of the soul. They gradually restore in
the soul the confidence to emerge from the
shadows of negativity and to live in the light
of its original nature. It is amazing, and
heart-warming, when one rediscovers these
qualities beneath all the other impressions
formed during this and previous lives that have
probably been peaceless and sorrowful at times.
The journey of meditation bypasses all the
negative tendencies and allows the soul to touch
these original qualities, experience their
truth, and express them in its life.
The other three factors which help us in
understanding as well as experiencing peace,
purity, wisdom, love and lasting happiness or
joy are:
1. The understanding and inculcation of the
complete spiritual knowledge of the soul,
Supreme Soul and the eternal world time cycle.
2. Attention on the self and checking and
changing the self during the entire day and
also keeping a daily chart of the main
weaknesses or negative personality trait in the
self, which is filled every night before going
to sleep.
3. Sharing the five spiritual virtues along
with spiritual knowledge with others through
thoughts, words and actions. Treasures shared
with others will bring about a direct increase
in the treasures in the self. Also, blessings
received from others, by serving them help in
the same purpose.
Message
for the day
To understand is to be easy and light.
Expression:
Life brings obstacles and
difficulties. They do not come to stop or hinder
progress. They can strengthen and help in
bringing progress with more experience. To
understand this is to keep advancing.
Understanding this aspect means to know that it
is not always necessary to find a solution, it
is enough to keep moving forward, leaving the
obstacle behind.
Experience:
True understanding is to
understand what the solution of the problem is
and bring it into my own life accordingly. When
I am able to understand this instead of
focussing too much on the problem, I am able to
remain happy. This brings a lot of inner
lightness and ease and thereby I am able to use
all my strength in bringing about solutions.