Month: January 2011

As a profession I teach Economics. The first lesson of economics is the concept of scarcity. Because we have scarcity we have to decide how to distribute these limited resources. If you gain some goods, that means less for me. This law of economics we can also feel in all aspects of life.

However, from a spiritual perspective this law is completely misleading. When we give wholeheartedly and with sincerity, we  enable ourselves to have more. If we offer good will to others, if we can give others joy, then this is the best way of being joyful ourselves.

Anything we do for the world
Is bound to be returned
Infinitely more.

– Sri Chinmoy [1. Fifty Freedom Boats part 4]

If we think there is only a limited amount of love, we will try and possess it; we will love another, but in a limited and possessive way. With this conception of love, we will always fear losing it; we will fear that our limited love could easily escape. However, if we love unconditionally, if we love everyone we meet, we come to appreciate that it is natural to be loving all the time. To love others, we have to have love for ourselves. This is not an egotistical love; it is a recognition of our divine essence, our real Self. If we feel love and joy to be scarce commodities we will try and ration it and grasp onto it when we see. But, when we learn to give unconditionally, we gain more of what we give. As St Francis of Assisi, concisely put: “For it is in giving that we receive.”

Attitude to Money

If we see others in need and offer financial assistance, we learn the value of giving. This confidence to give to others in need, helps us to attract money into our lives. It is only in cheerfully using money that we can feel wealthy. I used to work for a boss who was a multi-millionaire. However, he was very miserly; he would turn off the heating and lights to save a few pence. He couldn’t give anything to anyone. He had stacks of money in the bank, but he felt poor. His millions gave no joy because he couldn’t spend it.

Giving with Sincerity

If we give to others with the hope that we will get in return, this is not sincere joyful giving. When we give with this attitude, there is a fear our giving may not pay dividends. With this attitude, we don’t really know if we actually have joy to give; it becomes like a bargain. This is not effective. If we give unconditionally, we do not need or expect anything in return. Giving is its own reward. Whether it is misused or not returned doesn’t matter – because we know that giving selflessly helps us to do and become the right thing.

Learn by Teaching.

Love cannot remain by itself — it has no meaning.
Love has to be put into action, and that action is service

– Mother Teresa.

I always tell my students that the best way to revise / learn is to teach others. If you just read the same notes, it is hard to make progress. However, if they take time to explain something to others, then there own understanding and comprehension increases significantly. It is the same principle in life, what we teach and give to others is the lessons we will learn ourselves.

If we judge others, we will feel judged ourselves. If we offer happiness to others, we will be happy ourself. If we are miserly towards other people, we will feel miserly ourselves.

Related

• The Power of Giving

Photo: Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

Thoughts have power. As we think, so we become. If we allow negative thoughts to dominate our mind, we will be frustrated, unhappy and lacking in inner peace. If we can stop negative thoughts, we will will be able to see the beautiful, even in the mundane; we will be able to attain peace of mind, even in the turmoil of everyday life.

How To Stop your Negative Thoughts.

Be Committed

The very first step is simply the awareness that you want to stop your negative thoughts. Unfortunately, there is a part of us that holds on to negative thoughts; if we didn’t consciously or unconsciously invite negative thoughts we wouldn’t have them. For example, we sometimes hold onto negative thoughts out of self-pity; we have to be careful of this. If we strongly value the benefit of rejecting negative thoughts we will be able to do it.

Be Aware.

Another problem is that negative thoughts can often slip in unnoticed. We allow negative thoughts to spiral around in our mind and don’t have the discipline to reject them. Always be conscious of your thoughts, and don’t allow your mind to wander down a path of negativity. Feel that when you allow negative thoughts into your mind you are staining something very beautiful. Take time to periodically review your thoughts so that it will become more instinctive to be aware of your own mind.

Positive Visualisation.

Only by our positive thinking,
By our bringing the positive qualities
Of others to the fore,
Will this world be able
To make progress.

The most effective way for countering negativity, is to throw yourself into the opposite – which is a positive view of life. Don’t focus on a person’s minor misdemeanour’s, but focus on the real self, the part that is divine. If you are frustrated how society is at the moment, visualise how society can change into something beautiful. By thinking of the positive and by feeling divine qualities of love, we will not want to harbour negativity. Don’t feel you are fighting negativity, but just growing into a better world-view.

Negativity Hurts yourself.

Much negativity is focused on other people – colleagues who annoy us, friends who disappoint us, politicians who fail us. We wish to blame and criticise other people we come into contact with. However, as we gain more experience, we come to feel that our own negativity unmistakably returns to its source. The failings we see in others are merely some part of our own larger nature. When we realise that negativity towards others returns like a boomerang, we will naturally be more compassionate, forgiving and loving. By being kind to others, we are really being kind to our more illumined self.

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.

– Lord Buddha [2. Dhammapada, translated by T. Byrom (1993), Shambhala ]

Meditation

Sometimes, when sitting down to meditate, I just allow thoughts to pass by and I act as the observer of the thoughts. This allows myself to be aware of the thoughts that I produce; it also enables me to see thoughts as separate from my real self. By simply observing thoughts that pass by your mind, you will be able to see them as passing, transient objects – separate from yourself. With this perspective it is much easier to reject those you don’t want.

Related

• How To Gain Control of your Thoughts
• Positive Thinking – It’s benefits and limitations

If you have inner peace, nobody can force you to be a slave to the outer reality.

– Sri Chinmoy [1. Sri Chinmoy, Excerpt from Peace (1995) by Sri Chinmoy ]

Related Article: Seven Simple Steps to Inner Peace

Once we have this inner peace, world peace can be achieved in the twinkling of an eye.

– Sri Chinmoy [2. Excerpt from Inner Peace And World Peace by Sri Chinmoy]

My inner peace
Does not select anybody,
Does not reject anybody.
My inner peace
Always self-givingly projects itself.

– Sri Chinmoy [3. Excerpt from Peace: God’s Fragrance-Heart, Part 1 by Sri Chinmoy]

“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”

– Peace Pilgrim

“Possession of material riches, without inner peace, is like dying of thirst while bathing in a lake.”

– Paramahansa Yogananda

“Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities, and so on.”

– Dalai Lama

Freedom from desire leads to inner peace.

– Lao Tse

A smile is the beginning of peace.

– Mother Teresa

It isn’t enough to talk about peace, one must believe it.
And it isn’t enough to to believe in it, one must work for it.

– Eleanor Roosevelt

Photo Top: Tejvan, Sri C

Prayer is said to be an act of communication between yourself and the Divine. It can be expressed in words, feelings or actions. In particular, prayer usually involves requesting a certain boon. In one sense we are praying all the time, it is just that there are many different levels and types of prayer; we may not even class it as prayer, but just hold various wishes and desires that we would like to come true.
Prayer can vary from the purely selfish ‘O Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedez-Benz’ to the lofty utterance of Christ ‘Not my will but thine be done’. Here are some different types of prayer from the lowest to the highest.

Bring Other People Down.

It is a sad fact of human nature that sometimes we are more concerned with bringing people down, and not concentrating on our own upliftment. This kind of prayer is usually motivated out of jealousy or insecurity. Here we wish to see others fail and remain unfulfilled. Usually we wouldn’t dignify this kind of wish with the term prayer, but it may be a belief we secretly hold.

Poor Me Prayer

Complaint is the largest tribute heaven receives and the sincerest part of our devotion.

~Jonathan Swift

Another type of prayer is to half wish for something, but have a strong feeling we don’t deserve to get it. For example, we may pray to have successful relationships with other people, but at the same time we hold thought patterns that are self-destructive for relationships. We pray for harmony in our dealing with others, but lack the self-belief and inner happiness to make it a reality. Here we would be better of praying to overcome the root cause and not merely a symptom. It also brings to mind the old Indian proverb

Call on God, but row away from the rocks

In other words, it is good to pray, but we also have to make sure we avoid having the wrong attitude.

Material Wealth

This is a simple prayer for material wealth, and success in the outer life. We feel that, if only, we can get that car, new job or material security then we will be happy. This is the kind of prayer that may or not be answered. But, the richest person on earth may be completely bankrupt of inner peace. It is often the case that when we get a new car, it isn’t long before we would like the next best model or another car; there is no end to this kind of prayer.

Pray for Health.

Often humans only pray when we are in great danger. Bad luck and bad health is a powerful reminder that even the most powerful person on earth can’t be entirely self-sufficient. To pray for good health is good. When we are sick and suffering, we tend to be more unhappy; to have good health helps us to be in a better consciousness and make progress. However, we can never know or not whether this prayer will work. Sometimes our soul may want to have certain experiences, sometimes it may be God’s Will for someone to leave the body. We cannot stay on earth forever. To make progress, the soul may need to depart the body. Therefore, it is best to pray for good health and a long life, but also with detachment. We pray to be healthier, but if we cannot regain full health we should also pray for the right attitude to deal with the illness. Then our physical illness can be an opportunity to make progress and not just a source of frustration.

Spiritual Qualities.

This is a prayer for inner qualities. It is not for anything in the material world. But, for peace, love and joy. It is a prayer to be aware of our deeper sense of self. It is a prayer of spiritual aspiration that will help us face any situation we are in.

Meditation

In prayer we speak to God, and try to ask for something; there is a feeling we lack and need more. In meditation, we list to God. We keep our mind and emotions still, we try to be aware of the vast Consciousness within. In a way meditation is a form of prayer because we are selflessly growing into that which we would pray. Prayer and meditation are like two sides of the same coin, each ultimately going to the same destination.

“When we pray, we ask God for what we want. But when we meditate, God showers on us everything that we need.”

– Sri Chinmoy [1. Prayer and Meditation at Sri Chinmoy.org]
Not my will but thine be done.

Sri Chinmoy says the loftiest prayer was uttered by the Saviour Christ ‘Not my will but thine be done.’ [Luke 22:42] In this prayer we wish to become one with God’s will, with God’s consciousness. It is an awareness that if we can become one with our Source, then we will lack for nothing and all our prayers will be answered. We tend to be nervous of wholeheartedly offering this prayer. We feel that God’s Will will impinge on our freedom, but the great mystics and saints teach that only when we attain self-realisation, (Nirvana, God Realisation, Salvation) can we really experience the real bliss of being.

They say that prayer is the daughter of suffering.
But I say that prayer is the mother of delight

– Sri Chinmoy

Related

• What to Pray For

Artwork top:

Vilas Silverton, Bristol Sri Chinmoy Centre.

Often we feel powerless, a victim of circumstances. Yet, other people seem ‘lucky’ they are able to attract fortunate events and positive people. On some level, we do have much creative power. Unfortunately, we are using this creative energy in a negative way, creating difficult relationships and difficult circumstances. Yet, we can create much better circumstances if we try.

Feel it is Possible.

We need to have faith a better world is possible. If we have faith in negativity – that will be our experience. If we have faith in a positive experience, then we will be able to experience that.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

— Albert Einstein

Choosing To Be Happy.

Having faith in a better life is also choosing to have positive experiences. We constantly have a choice of how we react to events and how we think. One way will give us more joy than another, yet for certain reasons we don’t always choose the attitude that gives happiness. Therefore we need to make a clear and conscious decision to be happy.

Constant Practise.

It is not enough to say on one occasion – ‘I’d like to have better circumstances’. This single, positive (and rather feeble) thought will soon be outweighed by the countless negative thoughts and negative expectations that we will have. It is like a weighing scale, at the least, we need more positive thoughts and feelings than negative thoughts.

Gratitude.

The great saints and mystics frequently talk about the spontaneous gratitude they feel. The mystic sees the beauty and joy in the world. By being grateful to the joyful and beautiful, we are able to attract exactly that. Soulful gratitude has tremendous creative power. Also, don’t just be grateful for what you have experienced, be grateful for the beautiful things you will experience.

Cultivate the Beautiful and Good

If we try to fight negativity by negation, we can go around in circles. If we constantly think ‘I must stop being a negative person’ we can reinforce the impression of our own negativity. It is much better to visualise and concentrate on becoming a positive and kind person.

Uplift Others.

I am very happy
Because I have conquered myself
And not the world.

I am very happy
Because I have loved the world
And not myself.

– Sri Chinmoy

We will never create better circumstances at the expense of others. If we feel we will be happier by embarrassing and criticising other people, this is not a real improvement in happiness. It is a false happiness that relies on success at the expense of others. The easiest way to make our circumstances better is to be a more thoughtful and caring person. When we put others well being above our own, we learn to be selfless and this gives a sense of true happiness. This does not mean we have to go around giving money to street beggars. Our service to be others shouldn’t be ostentatious. We give most help by merely offering our good will and looking for the best in others.

Non-Judgemental

We make life hard by being so judgemental. We should be less judgemental and be more of an observer. We should observe if we like a part of ourselves. If we notice we are prone to depression or anger, make the conscious decision to reject that part of yourself. See it as a passing emotion that doesn’t reflect your true self, instead choose something positive.

Meditate and Concentrate

Thought has great power. But, silence has even more power. If we can still the mind and enter into silence, we can get in touch with the deeper part of our self. This silent self has a connection to the underlying cosmic spirit, and this is the most effective way to create a more fulfilling and positive experience.

Related

• How To Create Your Day

• Positive Thinking – benefits and limitations
• How To Turn Your Life around

Photo, Tejvan, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries.