Brahma Kumaris

05.11.15 Art by Tanya Torres "I love myself" Loving yourself is more than being pleased with the self. It begins with self-acceptance; where you consciously stop rejecting yourself. Accept & then appreciate. Appreciate your limitations & your uniqueness, & then say "I love myself." Powerful service is when there is service without pity. When we serve through our words and actions, we also need to serve through our mind. Only then will it be powerful service. If I get affected by the negativity of someone or something that is happening, I cannot be powerful. There will be pity, but I will not be able to empower the other person. Today I will empower someone with my words and also with my good wishes. I will help someone with a feeling of positivity. For this, today I will maintain a positive state of mind throughout the day, so that I can give rather than be influenced. Unloading Your Pressure Baggage (cont.) Can we experience freedom only when there is an absence of outside pressure? We feel pressured from many sides. At work, we feel the pressure to do tasks as per fixed guidelines of set systems and within boundaries of time, of keeping up our performance as per others' expectations and as good as our compatriots. In relationships, we feel the pressure of experiencing success in them, of satisfying others and gaining respect from them. In studies, we feel the pressure of having to excel in them, not only because that is instrumental in building our future but because of the desire to be seen in a positive light by others. We feel the pressure of having to earn more and more wealth to satisfy the necessities, comforts and luxuries of the family and to maintain a certain image in society. In the face of problems, we feel pressure when we are not able to solve them quickly or in the way that we want. Failure or its fear, in any sphere of life, generates pressure in us. Sometimes we experience pressure because the mind is not functioning as per our desires or directions or we are not able to transform our negative personality to a positive one as much as we want. When we believe that something harmful can happen if we don't reach our set objectives on time or in a certain manner, we feel pressured. Physical illnesses or their fear can also create pressure for some of us. And so life turns into an endless amount of pressure crests, like speed breakers that appear one after the other, unsettling us and not giving us time to relax. When we feel pressured, it seems that the life forces rule our life and we do not feel free. In the long-term, this repetitive habit of creating feelings of pressure and carrying such baggage ends up leaving us exhausted on an emotional and spiritual level. (To be continued tomorrow...) Soul Sustenance The Creations Of The Mind Scientists have learned a lot about our physical functioning, but most admit that what actually keeps a human being alive is a mystery not completely solved. Rising above being just a product of chemical and electrical activity in the brain, as believed by many of us, spirituality orients me and trains me to come close to my real self, my spiritual self. Before I was a stranger to my own self, unaware of what is going inside my consciousness and distant from my own self. The first step in coming close to myself is that I learn to use the energy of my mind in the most effective way possible. For this, I decide to find a place where, each day, I can sit for a few minutes without interruptions, in order to focus on the self and explore the inner world of the creations of the mind - my thoughts, feelings, attitudes and emotions. There has been a lot of conflicting views in the world about what the mind is and how it works. In the teachings of meditation by the Brahma Kumaris, the mind, which gives rise to my thoughts, feelings, attitudes and emotions, is seen as a faculty of the soul, not the body. It is rather like the difference between a television set and the movies seen on that set. The movies originate in the minds of the directors, not in the television set itself. The television set is just a medium for displaying the movies. So it is with all these four creations (thoughts, feelings, attitudes and emotions). These originate in the non-physical consciousness and not in the physical brain. The brain is just a processor of them and the body is a medium via which all four are displayed or brought onto expressions, physical gestures, words and actions. When I realize this, and really understand this difference, it very empowering. I am then able to use the power of discrimination to make choices between thoughts, feelings, attitudes and emotions that are useful and empowering for myself and others, and those that bring me down. Message for the day Truth is effective when it is combined with tact. Expression: I usually react when something goes wrong. In the heat of the moment I give corrections and others don't seem to understand. Then I tend to become confused, as it is difficult to make a choice whether to leave the situation as it is or to prove my point to the others. Experience: Unless truth is combined with tact I cannot make people realise their mistakes. When I find something going wrong, I need to wait for the right time for saying what I have to. I also need to tell it in a way that the other person can understand. Only then will my words have their impact on others.