Practice

 

There is never a time when we can build up a case in favour of pettiness or meanness. Ultimately, the onus comes back to us. OUR thoughts, our reactions, our prejudices.

I understand perfectly that we have faced all this and more from other people. But, after much churning and trying out all options , it ultimately OUR choice: to retaliate and give it as good as we get, or to look at such people kindly and know there is something within that have not come to terms with.

That effort, though very tough, will pay rich dividends. It is a daily practice. And will have terrific blocks to overcome. Because the moment you make such an intention, the universe will start testing you with irritating episodes coming your way to see how strong is your resolve.

These are enough to get frustrated and leave the practice. But better to continue the practice. Otherwise, no results will be forthcoming.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Attitude

 

We keep ourselves busy throughout the day. But we have never reflected on our attitude while doing our chores or other actions during the day.

Some work is being done with joy but some also under force, not really wanting to but having to.

From where does the “having to” arise? There is an always a reason and once we reflect on our attitude with which we perform daily actions, we can perhaps change every action into an attitude of service.

This attitude of being of service to someone or something with every action transforms it into virtually a prayer. Your actions then acquire a new dimension, that of every action becoming a meditation. Of course, the joy of doing things with this attitude day by day will transform us into beings of light over a period of time.

Therefore, Attitude is most important. We fulfil social obligations as if we are doing a favour to someone… grumbling but attending the event nonetheless. How much we have to lie to ourselves! Instead, if we must go, it can be done gracefully and willingly. This is just one example. There are so many things in the day where we need to take on everything smilingly. If we just can’t, then we just don’t if it is not essential.

Just as a glass remains clear inspite of colored liquids being poured into it, our mind should remain pure, whatever thoughts or actions might require our presence. And one way to do all of this, is to let happiness be our core in whatever is required of us or we WANT to do it ourselves. It makes life simple, stress free and spiritual.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Recognize

 At the end of the day, after tremendous conflict, upheavals, blame, resentment, hatred, we have only one place to dwell: within ourselves! Do we like our place?

Whether this self is healthy or sick is solely to be determined by us. And both health and disease are self-created.

Do we become better by pointing out how terrible someone else is? No.

Does looking down at others make us superior? No.

Does talking down to elders receive acceptance? No.

Do we increase our energy by shunning people? No

Actually, which reactions really make us peaceful and happy? Only proactive ones can.

Strange are the ways of people! They are quick to tag others but little do they know that people may be sweet on the face but are tagging you at the back.

If we are polluted, we will definitely bypass all the goodness of others and focus only on their polluted parts. The simple math here is, only when we know something can we recognize it in others. If our slate is clean, we will be oblivious of any negativity in others. So, when we point a finger outwards, it points right back at us.

The message from every philosopher, ever spiritual teacher, therefore, is WORK ON YOURSELF and criticise others only if YOU are perfect.

Love, support, kindness, warmth, empathy are human traits of connectivity with the entire universe. We are so small sometimes, in our thoughts and in our actions. Even if we seek expansion, it is not to include others, but, in fact, to exclude others to gain exclusive power … god knows, to achieve what???

Nothing lasts. Everything is flowing past and we don’t even know it in our ignorance. Like good manure harvests a good crop, so, the manure of spiritual thinking and doing will harvest a good crop: YOU. Isn’t it worth it?

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Happiness

 Sometimes life turns out very differently than you had planned. You can be uprooted, fired, cheated on, divorced, diagnosed with a terminal disease, lose a loved one or not be able to have a child. Every one of these situations can either bring out the worst in you or the best in you. It all depends what you focus on.

If you focus on the loss, hurt, unfairness, sadness and disappointment, then you will feel hopeless, angry and frustrated. If you instead focus on the wisdom, the lesson and the benefit, then you will feel hopeful, at peace and content.

Stop dwelling on how your plans didn’t work out the way you wanted it and realize that the One who orchestrated your life is more wise and more knowledgeable. Your plan is nothing compared to the master plan.

Once you’re able to surrender to the plan, you will no longer feel anxious or depressed.

Remember that acceptance is one of the most vital ingredients of peace & happiness.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Transition

Life is not to be lived by overthinking everything. Everything is meant to be. Your decisions are also made so as to experience something important, a lesson for life.

So, to regret, feel guilty, are all the products of an ignorant mind. Ostensibly, we take ”good” decisions and we feel luck is with us. What we don’t know is that THAT good luck was merely the pleasant experience ordained for us. It was due and we experienced happiness that goes with it.

Similarly, what we call bad luck is also ordained through our own earlier actions, which we don’t want to pay the price for and therefore, end up with suffering.

If we can accept the moment and what it brings us, and learn to flow with it, we are through. What we are busy doing is living either in the past or agonizing about the future, neither of which are within our grasp. In other words, we have left the flow of our life.

A hard task then, is to get back into the flow, and extremely important. How we achieve it will mark a huge transition in our lives. But first, the quest is to reach that platform.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Consequences

 

There was a time when the spoken word was like a signed document of trust. Today, cheating and lack of ethics in business is rampant. To execute a job order, a client has to pay 75 percent advance and in return, gets damaged goods.

It is money all the way and a hundred whitewashing excuses to deny a shoddy job done.

There seems to be no fear of divine intervention and fear of God, even though it is written in black and white that you will face adequate consequences for non-spiritual action. Yet, people think they can get away.

This kind of unethical earning will not stay. Like gambling money does not stay.

We know this to be true but we still let the devils within us win. For a little money.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Simplicity

 

In our generation, respect was taught as the first priority. In families. For elders. For each other. I understand now that this is what kept families going. From generation to generation, there was an unspoken code of respect.

Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, they all fulfilled the roles of mentors for growing children. And there was a bond that could not be refuted.

Likewise, the younger siblings respected the elder siblings. And so on

any elder in the family could pull us up for any lapse in behavior and our parents did not mind. In fact, they were happy that we were all so close.

That was one era. And this is one era. of broken families, lack of respect where you can’t even point out a fault, let alone mentor the young ones. it could be an instant cause for losing relationships and therefore, no one ventures into that territory.

So, this has pervaded the society to such an extent that we are a withdrawn lot that keeps surface contact with our own kind.

Egos? Rampant.

Insecurities? Many

Sensitivity? Increased, maybe in the wrong things?

Truth? Compromised.

Simplicity? What? What does that even mean today?

The comparisons between those times and today are glaring in their differences.

So, older generations call their elders almost every day but today, elders are on call almost every day. Because they love deeply. Because they were taught that love is the most important ingredient in the recipe for life.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Truth

 

We are always so close to healing ourselves, except for denial of our distortions. THIS acts like a thick veil between us and our healed selves.

We DON’T need to know about anyone else.

We need to know

WHAT angers us

WHAT inspires us into conflict

WHERE lie our imbalances

WHY we are unaccepting of our need to change certain thought processes within us

WHY we prefer to blame others but refuse to admit to our own weaknesses

WHY we feel envy, and pander to our insecurities etc.

What do any of these have to do with anyone else?

But, this is the way we want to continue to live. Never mind the miserable state of our minds!

Why are we living a life or pretence and getting comfortable with a lie rather than the truth?

It seems quite illogical, or SHOULD appear as illogical to an “educated” mind. Except that academic education is no guarantee …

Each of us forms a society and the standard of society is therefore, determined by each one of us. 

Change is an internal phenomenon, the triggers of which might lie in the external world. But it has to start within. And we have to feel enough discomfort when looking into our mirrors, to WANT to change our muddy reflections into clear ones.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Reflection

 

We are always so close to healing ourselves, except for denial of our distortions. THIS acts like a thick veil between us and our healed selves.

We DON’T need to know about anyone else.

We need to know

WHAT angers us

WHAT inspires us into conflict

WHERE lie our imbalances

WHY we are unaccepting of our need to change certain thought processes within us

WHY we prefer to blame others but refuse to admit to our own weaknesses

WHY we feel envy, and pander to our insecurities etc

What do any of these have to do with anyone else?

But, this is the way we want to continue to live. Never mind the miserable state of our minds!

Why are we living a life or pretence and getting comfortable with a lie rather than the truth?

It seems quite illogical, or SHOULD appear as illogical to an “educated” mind. Except that academic education is no guarantee …

Each of us forms a society and the standard of society is therefore, determined by each one of us. 

Change is an internal phenomenon, the triggers of which might lie in the external world. But it has to start within. And we have to feel enough discomfort when looking into our mirrors, to WANT to change our muddy reflections into clear ones.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Gratify

 We are all custodians of our own conscience. That little voice within us which judges our intentions and a tiny voice in the head that tells us “I did right” or “I did wrong”. Of course, the resulting emotion is either joy or guilt. Rather, SHOULD be if the conscience is more or less clean.

Sometimes, it isn’t though.  And you can make out by the same emotions. If you feel happy in doing the wrong thing, for example! To get back at someone, maybe! Or even overeating! Anything which you know you should not do.

It is gratifying to give ourselves a good certificate for doing what is right, even if no one appreciates it. Ultimately, we are really not looking for kudos from others. We don’t live by the conscience of others, do we?

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Quote of the day

 

Acceptance

 Our natural tendency is to freeze the happy moments of our lives and keep revisiting them, often to get away from the unhappy ones. We forget that those have been experienced already but the unhappy ones have not found acceptance and peace within us. It is a subtle form of denial!

Recovery happens with both types of experiences, by learning to repeat the behavioural patterns which brought in happiness and by not repeating the behaviour that resulted in unhappiness.

But, like Duryodhana who told Krishna that he knew what was right but didn’t feel like doing it, we also know what we should be doing, but still continue with actions which definitely must bring in only unhappiness and suffering.

Again, the human brain understands this perfectly. It is just not accompanied by wisdom.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Dharma by Design

 

Integrity

 

We can only guarantee the quality of our own humaneness and integrity. And uphold a certain standard of goodness.  Just as a flower bloom and has a sweet aroma, so should humans retain their fragrance even when people try to take it away. The only way you can lose it is if you are willing to part with it. And if you are, then you are paying a very heavy price.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari

Quote of the day

 

Unbridled ego

 

An unbridled ego, when unleashed among friends, family or acquaintances can be extremely damaging! It just destroys all value systems within such people.

Despite atrocities and destruction, goodness still prevails, though hanging by a slender thread, or the world would have come to an end. 

The most difficult thing to do is to withdraw our inner self when required. Because this is what a wise person does. It is not only about what to do but what not to do as well.

Actually, the unrefined ego makes choices that are harmful and can have a very isolating influence. It disrupts the flow in relationships and will always attract people who are not necessarily there to extend friendship. The ego bypasses straightforward people in a heart beat . All it wants is to be fed with praise, however false. So, ego driven people have no need for sincerity in relationships. They simply don’t dwell there.

The time now is a difficult one and we make it more so, due to our ignorance of the basic principles to adopt, especially when in society.

The calibre of influencers will help the transition into infusing more balanced parameters into people along with the wisdom that precedes this.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

Speakingtree Blog: www.speakingtree.in/public/surekhakothari