Friday 29 April 2022

Self Absorption

 Someone was just hospitalised ! Someone is on the ventilator ! Someone , we heard, has just passed on ! Age no bar !

What a world we live in ! Suddenly, the phrase “life is fragile” has struck closer to home than ever before !

And yet….

We don’t seem closer to valuing those around us. We are so desensitised to others and so single-mindedly devoted to ourselves that the shock of people close to us suddenly ailing and breathing their last conveniently seems such a remote possibility , however real it actually may be .

The chief concern is , “ when will things be normal ?” “ when can I call a party for 100 people ?

People are on different levels.. understandable ! But , why does death or the possibility of death not touch some people ? Is it denial or self absorption or … what ?

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Quote of the day


 

Quote of the day


 

Wednesday 27 April 2022

Spiritual Thinking

 

At what point do you even start practising detachment ? Even partial detachment ? No one teaches you that and by virtue of being in a family and then being a householder, the last thing that you think of is getting detached. In fact, you are more attached with every passing minute. To all your relationships, to all your achievements, to all the accolades you get, to your power over people and situations… and all of that and more… until your head in in the clouds, far away from ground reality !

Generally, these also result in a lot of non virtuous thinking and behaviour.

So, with so many thick layers of attachment around and within, imagine starting the process of detachment! Sounds ludicrous, right ? And impossible !

And yet, they tell you it is better than medication and can help you become more peaceful and to becoming a more wholesome individual than you are at this time.

This trend of thought might be yours more with moving out of active life, if at all… and that too, not always.

It is sometimes the product of changed circumstances, from your children leaving the home, the family becoming scattered and similar reasons… situations that are unpleasant and that teach you that suffering is caused by attachment to everyone and everything.

But sometimes, it comes voluntarily with a bent of mind towards spiritual thinking , knowledge of the birth and death cycle and the need to use your life as a clean up opportunity .

What that cleansing is or should be is the main course of study while we live. Sure, attachment is a major, major cause of misery because along with it comes expectations. A double whammy !

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Quote of the day


 

Monday 25 April 2022

Quote of the day


 

Perspective

 

Where are you looking ? Look at yourself: At your thoughts

At your reactions that you have picked up about people and situations that make you bitter, resentful and bordering on dislike or even hatred.

At whether you could have exercised positivity in the wake of negativity .

At how much and how futilely you have occupied your mind space about opinions of people who are not even in your circle .

At how you feel when you criticise / judge people.

These are basic to our well being. The analysis puts a perspective on us and where we really need to work on ourselves.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Quote of the day


 

Thursday 21 April 2022

Spirituality

 

If I think continuously that I am at peace with myself and the world, soon, I will begin to BE at peace.

If I discontinue my spiritual Practices and practice goodness only occasionally as and how I like people and situations, I will not open any new doors .

Often, it is even the mechanical regularity of a practice that gets you everywhere. For example, ask people who pray regularly or visit a place of worship every day how their day pans out. Most of them

will feel more energy to go through the day and with less agitation than earlier. And this becomes a habit in gaining energy.

So, to enhance your spirituality , it is necessary to establish a routine and prioritise on it, never mind who or what demands your attention at that time. Or adjust your time , not postpone your practice. Most of us fail in this. We are happy to do a little and talk about it more. If only we could do more and talk less, we would see some fantastic results.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Quote of the day


 

Monday 18 April 2022

Spiritual Practices

 I have realised that irregularity has been most damaging in my life. It has deprived me of using my time well.

Today, I understand that spiritual practices done with regularity provide stability of thought, an ability to NOT react and to become lighter as compared to my earlier intense self. Of course, there is plenty of work to be done…

I have been listening to Swami Sarvapriyananda ji on you tube and have been so humbly grateful for the impact of his simple , yet profound teachings on my life , that I actually sought and got a meeting with him recently.

So much synchronicity has happened that I can see how the universe works for all of us if we just get tuned in. Just listening to one talk of his per day can bring an immense awareness and open several doors for each of us.

I feel wonderfully blessed that I chanced upon his videos on you tube. Amazing !

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Quote of the day


 

Friday 15 April 2022

Quote of the day


 

Path of Detachment

 

Studying Advaita Vedanta is the best way to the path of detachment. When Shakespeare said, “ all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players”, I did not realise the vastness of implications in that one statement.

Advaita Vedanta tells you the same thing by segregating transactional and ultimate reality. It comes as an amazing realisation that we are not who we claim to be when we identify with the body and mind. In fact, this puts us in a world of transactional reality where karma rules the cycle of birth and death.

The moment we start the process of elimination that we are not the body, not the mind, nor the intellect nor the body of desires we have accumulated, there descends  a tremendous sense of relief and lightness of being .

There is nothing and no one to get attached to. Yes, I have often been scoffed for this statement but believe me, as Echkart Tolle says, now is the time either to evolve or “die” , the latter meaning a metaphorical death.

Now, the choice is ours.  Are we going to carry on with our old ways of comparisons, judgements, hatreds , dislikes, manipulations etc or stop that completely useless baggage and see the light which is everywhere ? Only our inner light is dimmed by us, and none other .

So, we should know that one hundred percent responsibility for our souls is ours .  Yet, we are unable to detach from what we know to be futile in our journey, like a dog’s tail, however much it is straightened, comes back to being crooked.

But sooner or later, the circle of life’s mixed experiences , once exhausted, will bring us back to the point of elevation: the NEED to elevate as the only choice . That will be a brilliantly illuminated day for each of us.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Wednesday 13 April 2022

Quote of the day


 

Emotions

 Don’t subscribe to feelings like envy, jealousy , hatred, dislike, resentment and don’t bottle up these emotions…. hurts and harbouring of negativity has been known to lead to various diseases. Apart from causing acute suffering .

Why do we wantonly invite these when there are so many ways of healing oneself ? Even on the basis of common sense, have these bettered our world in any way ? Or have we harmed ourselves repeatedly ?

Let us atleast start with this awareness. It is a baby step towards deeper awareness which comes gradually with more thinking, more cleansing, and above all, realising how futile all this is.

Why be complicated when we can be simple ?

Why look at others and feel a lack when each one of us has the same spiritual core ?

Why deny and stand still when we can accept and move on ?

Why focus on problems instead of solutions ?

Why live in ignorance when knowledge can liberate us ?

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Tuesday 12 April 2022

Quote of the day




Spiritual Journey

 Life throws you challenges, some very tough, in order to strengthen you and to also show  you where you need to change your path.

I think of life as a crowded street where we have to constantly be aware of where we are going, whether we are stepping  on anyone’s toes, how we are weaving ourselves in and out of situations and working around people. Sometimes, we need to step aside to allow others to pass. And sometimes, we need to forge ahead on our path while politely asking people to give us way by stepping aside.

This is a way that works for me when I remember to use it. Each morning, put yourself in a white light bubble and make the intention that your space within this  bubble will not be disturbed while you live out your day. Keep checking the bubble and reinforce it during the day . You will know when it is wearing thin as soon as you begin to feel any negativity.

Do try it and tell me if it works for you. We all need it  for our spiritual journey.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Thursday 7 April 2022

Bonds and Relationships

 A passive smoker is considered as good as a smoker, with all the ill effects. Similarly, a passive abuser can be as lethal as an active one. We put up with a lot of subtle abuse in the name of bonds and relationships. There are thin lines between behavioural patterns and to discern subtle abuse may not be an easy task. In families, there are such abusers who might be wearing masks of seniority or may, out of some silent anger about some old issues , still be burning enough to be the cause of abuse.

It may be known to a few that the tendency to abuse , itself  stems from within. No Blame can be attributed to anyone externally.  It may be coming from A completely unidentifiable source like a past life. So, Let it suffice that, whatever we are going through is our own agenda and others should not be included in the experience. 

Any tendency to abuse also starts from old memories where someone may have abused us. So, this urge to retaliate might come from within now , and which was kept silent earlier.

So, there are layers and layers to an action which may be completely misguided action because we focus only on an immediate pleasure , through, say, gaming , instead of the future of people and animals. Treading carefully is the thing to do. Not to forget that there are links and chains everywhere . And disconnection is possible only if the mind wills so.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Quote of the day


 

Law of Resonance

 

The common saying is, you have to earn respect. True ! But it has a corollary . Sometimes, you also automatically respect seniority, the sanctity of close relationships and even the painful journey of others . How can we  not? Especially if we call ourselves compassionate !

In fact, there are aspects of each one that are respect worthy if we respect aspects of ourselves. Then, we will recognise those aspects in others too.

No one is worth discarding or rejecting. If we do, then we have to look into ourselves first. There is a law of resonance at work all the time.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Attitudes in life

 

If you think about it, one of the biggest challenges in relationships is to retain your straightforwardness when you encounter obviously devious people. I say “obviously” because most of us have the intelligence to see through deviousness.

In a very convoluted way, deviousness might be deployed for personal protection. But , be as it may, if you succeed in remaining straightforward each time, when you face deviousness, you are definitely to be admired for not leaving what you value the most.

I guess people who abandon what may be a virtue for whatever reasons, must re assess their journey every once in a while , to gauge the long term effects of their attitudes in life.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Quote of the day


 

Quote of the day


 

Friday 1 April 2022

Perspective

 

It is aptly said that what you can’t change, you must let go of trying to put your point across sometimes , is exhausting. You really cannot change people’s perspectives to accommodate your view, even if accommodating it could be a win win situation.

Just as fruits on a tree will ripen at their own time, change will happen at its own time.

I remember treating a lot of elderly advice with some carelessness. Today, I am blessed that the advice was given to me. It remained as energy somewhere within me and got activated when it was needed.

It always pays to keep your ears and heart open. And yet, if someone is in denial, the time is evidently not right.

Our journey is a long one and you never know what tools might be required along the way. So, don’t discard any.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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