(Caño Cristales River, Colombia)
Tolerance
You have the power to tolerate anyone and any situation. But tolerance is not just suffering in silence. It means going beyond any personal discomfort you may feel, and giving a gift to whom ever you would tolerate. Give your time, attention, understanding, compassion, care - all are gifts, which paradoxically, you also receive in the process of giving. And, as you do, you will experience your own self esteem and inner strength grow. In this way you can turn tolerance into strength
Do you enjoy what you do? Do you enjoy your work?
When you enjoy what you are doing you are so absorbed and involved in
the task that you rarely stop to think about time. We think we 'have
to' go to work because we associate work with hard labour, a kind of
boredom that must be tolerated. We rarely see work for what it is.
What is work? Is it something to get joy from, or something to give
joy to? We are conditioned to see and think about work as a necessary
activity in order to pay for the 'good' things in life. And so many of
us leave our hearts in our homes, and reluctantly (unwillingly) do
what we think we have to do – with one eye on the task and the other
eye on the clock. Notice, when you are doing what you love doing, you
do what you do, with love…and joy…and willingly. And time is never a
problem. So here is the challenge:
Are you doing what you love doing. Is the work that you do, what you
give yourself willingly to? If not, what do you love doing, or what is
it that you joyfully enjoy giving your time, interest and attention
to? (By 'doing' we mean something that is creative or interactive not
something static (inactive)).
Imagine you are doing what you love doing, for a living, what does
this look like? What could you do to begin to make this change?
The Car-Driver Comparison To Aid Self Realization (cont.)
If a good driver, while driving a car is distracted by the negative and disturbing scenes which he comes across and his attention is pulled in many different directions, he will make his journey unsafe increasing the probability of meeting with accidents. When the same principles are applied to the soul and the body, I also need to take care that, while traveling on the road of life, I am not distracted by scenes that are not useful to me e.g. when looking out through my eyes and I don't have to take in all the images, scenes and information along the way, otherwise I may meet with an accident. When listening through my ears, I don't have to take in all the words and everything that people say, otherwise I may meet with an accident. I can choose to take in what is useful for me, but I do not have to register distracting, negative and harmful images and words. Just like a driver, I see and understand situations, too I keep my eyes and ears open - it would be unsafe to ignore them completely, I need to be aware of them - but I look only for the positive in them, so that I remain focused and am not deflected from my goal of experiencing inner contentment and bliss, while making the journey.
I, as the driver in charge of this vehicle, the body, also need to take care that I do not drive rashly i.e. I learn to monitor the feelings and attitude that are transmitted outwards through my eyes, my words and my complete body language. Driving rashly i.e. transmitting negative energy in this way could harm any co-traveler on the road of life. When these feelings stay positive, filled with sweetness, purity and respect, that too helps to ensure that my journey passes smoothly and enjoyably. When I stay alert and aware in a driver conscious and drive carefully as explained in this and yesterday's message, my actions bring me closer to my spiritual truth and I am able to share my positivity with others around me. When I lose awareness for even a moment, there's danger either from me to others or vice versa.
Soul Sustenance
Internal And External Attachments
Attachment can be on two levels - either internal or external.
Some common examples of external attachments are attachments to:
* people,
* objects,
* your physical body,
* your position or role in your family, society or in your professional field,
* money,
* places,
* physical comfort/comforts,
* the way you look or dress up or carry yourself or your physical personality in general,
* a particular skill/skills,
* a particular interest or hobby like watching movies, online social networking, etc.
* your routine or a certain way of working at home or at the workplace,
* respect from others,
* how people see you or behave with you or what they think of you, etc.
(To be continued tomorrow...)
Message for the day
To be healthy internally is to make the best use of all treasures.
Expression: A healthy intellect acts like a mother, always showing the right path. When internally one is strong, there is the natural ability to treat the mind with love and guide it towards the right direction. Such a healthy state of mind naturally enables the recognition and the proper utilisation of everything available.
Experience: Once I have learnt the art of guiding my mind in the right direction with love, I then never experience the difficulty of having to bring back the mind to the right thinking. Because the mind is totally under control in a very easy and natural way and I don't have to control it or force it to think or not to think in a particular way.
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