Forgiveness Brings Me Closer to Others Why is it hard to forgive others? Usually because we believe that they are 90% to blame for the problem, that I am not as bad as they are. So I start to carry the load of other people's actions. If my ego is too hurt, I will have the sense of correction, of justice: 'I know I am right', 'That is not fair'. But if I start to forgive from the heart, sincerely, then this kind of feeling and attitude begins to dissolve. I remain humble and this forgiveness will bring me closer to others. Then I do not carry regrets or anger, I just let go and remain light. Focus on Happiness The reason why negative thought energies are so detrimental to our well-being is that they frustrate the universal forces that can create a happy, healthy and successful life. They keep our true potential trapped in a mental prison of our own making. "We are what we think, all that we are arises with our thoughts," said the Buddha, "with our thoughts, we make the world." In other words, you are constantly creating your circumstances by the way you think. It's as if you had a guided missile in your unconscious that relentlessly directs you towards its target, and the target is whatever your thoughts dwell on. Think doom and gloom, and that's what you'll get. Focus on happiness and optimism, and they're already yours. " Stages of Meditation to Realize The Self 1. Relax your body. 2. Withdraw your attention from everything around you, including your body. 3. Affirm (confirm), using your thoughts, your identity as a soul or spirit, and your nature as peaceful and full of love. 4. Contemplate (think) the knowledge of yourself as a soul, a point of spiritual light, situated in the centre of your forehead. 5. Concentrate attention on yourself as a peaceful, loving being. 6. Experience (visualize) yourself as a soul and acknowledge the feelings of inner peace. 7. Maintain, without force, consciousness (awareness) of yourself as a soul even while in action and while interacting with others. Soul Sustenance Negative Reactions To Negative Actions We very commonly react negatively with anger to another person’s anger filled words or actions, which we perceive to be unjustified or unreasonable. But this kind of action on our part, which we feel is our right and is a justified reaction or response, only adds to the negative energy already existing inside a particular situation, increasing the energy and making the situation even more complicated and difficult to resolve. Two negatives never make a positive, they make a higher negative, to which a very high positive has to be added (as compared to before) to bring the situation back to neutral or normal. Also, when you react, you are doing exactly what you believe the other person, the attacker, is doing – injuring someone on an emotional level, which is a form of subtle violence. Lastly and very importantly, the other person’s negative and impulsive behavior, directed at you, portrays that at that particular moment he/she is experiencing an emptiness or void of wisdom, joy, peace, love and power, a void which he/she believes you have created and can only be re-filled by you. The anger filled action is a desire directed towards you, for this filling up. Hidden behind his/her anger is the feeling, "Because of this person, I have lost my happiness at this particular moment and he/she should give it back to me immediately", which means that the other person is lacking the realization that no other person is ever responsible for your happiness. You are, always. Instead of switching on the awareness of this spiritual fact and emerging the value of forgiveness inside yourself, forgiveness because the other person is lacking this wisdom at that moment of time, you react, which makes you similar to him possessing a similar belief, something which you will definitely not appreciate too much. But, what happens is that the emotional storm inside you at that moment hides your ability to see how you are yourself injuring your spiritual heart. While you are in that emotional state, there is no way you can heal the wounds of the other’s heart i.e. correct the other person. Message for the day To have the right attitude is to add meaning to circumstances. Expression: Circumstances are like objects. They are not alive but they come to life depending on the kind of attitude that one has. If the attitude is positive, there is the ability to make situations positive too. But if the attitude is negative, even the most ordinary situations seem to be negative. So every action done with such an attitude creates a negative impact on one's own life and that of others too. Experience: When faced with a situation, if I am able to look at it in a positive way, I am able to make the best of the situation. I accept the situation as it is and I am able to be happy and light. This positive state of mind creates a great impact and it spreads around touching the lives of others too.