Daily Positive Thoughts: July 05, 2014: Be Gentle
Be Gentle
Non-violence is a very deep philosophy. Not only does it require me to harm no one physically, but also to avoid harming anyone's self-respect. Such an ethic requires tremendous awareness and sensitivity. When I have learned to be gentle with myself, I can be the same with others.
State of Calm
Whenever there is a challenge, which demands my accurate judgment, I
tend to become panicky. A lot of waste thoughts come up in my mind.
Whatever decisions I take with such a state of mind tend to go wrong. I
need to take my mind to a state of calm before I can take any decision
in challenging situations. For this too I need a practice of a long
time to keep my mind calm - even when the situation demands that my
activities increase their speed. Such training over a long period of
time enables the mind to be calm even in challenging situations.
Understanding The Identity Of The Supreme Being
It's not too difficult to understand that out of all the billions of souls, there is One who could be designated as the Supreme (God), because of His perfect love, total truth and absolute beauty. It is reasonable to accept that such an unlimited being is never born from a mother's womb nor undergoes the experience of death. He never passes through the stages of growing up nor gets involved in specific relationships with individuals. Just as every human soul has a mind, intellect and a specific set of 'sanskars' that determine each one's individuality, the Supreme would also be made up of these three energies - each functioning at their most perfect levels. Because He remains beyond the play of things in the physical world, the power and sharpness of these basic capabilities never decrease. His original qualities are neither lost nor reduced. Before coming here from the soul world, we also had qualities similar to those of the Supreme but not to the same unlimited extent.
If we identify ourselves totally with the physical body, the idea that God created human beings in His image may have led us to believe that the human form is God's image. Perhaps that is how we created the figure of an old white-bearded man (as God) sitting up in the heavens, controlling, rewarding and punishing humans as well as nature as He found fit. The contradiction is that such a God appears to have been created in our image, with both our best virtues and our worst defects.
Soul Sustenance
The Original Ingredients Of The Soul
Our original resources are very simply - peace, love, purity, knowledge and happiness. In Raja Yoga meditation these are called the five original qualities of the soul. When we return our consciousness to these five qualities and remember them, then the following feelings arise in us, which finally get reflected in our actions:
• Love: I care and I share.
• Peace: I harmonize and reconcile (adjust).
• Purity: I respect and I honour.
• Knowledge: I am and I exist.
• Happiness: I express and I enjoy.
To understand and remember these qualities, we need to recognize the heavy deep shadows or personality traits (sanskars) which have blotted them out, or polluted them. Sometimes we don't recognize the pollutants because they have ingrained themselves so deeply into the personality that we say 'I am this'. True, complete spiritual knowledge, makes us aware of these pollutants and the practice of meditation empowers us to dilute them and get them out of our consciousness.
Message for the day
True love is felt by all who receive it.
Expression: Sometimes we do find ourselves in situations where others are not responding to the love we are giving. We are trying to be understanding and accepting as much as possible but others don't seem to be recognising it. In such a situation we begin to blame others and their lack of feelings and concern.
Experience: Instead of blaming others when our love and concern is not being reciprocated, we need to check the quality of the love that we give. If there is even a trace of selfishness or if it is mixed with expectations, our love will not be able to reach out and touch the hearts of others. So we need to make sure that our love is pure and unselfish.
DR.BK.SATYANARAYAN
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