Evolution

 Sometimes, I wonder why we just block our own evolution with wrong thinking patterns. Most of us do know when we are wrong. And despite the knowing, we act contrary to our knowledge that we are wrong.

It is better to stand weather conditions and stand tall and upright, like a tree. But we choose to be limp bushes that can be destroyed with a mild gust of wind. A weakness of spine ought not to be developed.

We cloak our minds with a lot of lies because it becomes a survival technique. We get away with it so, guilt becomes a very small price to pay. We acquire a license, so to say, to walk around with this cloak. And soon, it becomes a somewhat permanent skin.

It is important to be very vigilant to retain our original self at all times. A second and third skin of this kind can be extremely uncomfortable in the long run. And even if you get used to it, there will be self-doubt, restlessness and anxiety. Not worth it.

Surekha Kothari

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

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Self-Improvement

The journey of self-improvement is arduous and fraught with trial after trial! To take every day, smiling through it all and letting go each minute of what you do not really find palatable and finally, sleeping well at night because you not only deflected the negative energy that came your way but did not respond, thereby nullifying it almost instantly. This I guess, is the starting point to evolving to a higher purpose through the higher self we possess but fail to access due to the reactionary mode we live in.

HOW can you NOT let your expectations get the better of you? HOW can you observe and accept whatever is happening? Because nothing really happens to US. We choose to think it is. In short, how do you NOT let it stick to you EVEN IF it was meant for you? These are questions which have suggestions / seeds of knowledge within them.

Buddha remained calm and unfazed when a man came up and started continuously abusing him verbally. His disciples were angry on his behalf and asked Buddha why he didn’t say something. Buddha said, the man was giving him a gift but he did not accept it. So, this way, the gift went back to him.

Can we start doing this? Buddha was an ordinary human being before he became “The enlightened one”. So why can’t all of us too?  There is only one condition: that we work towards it.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

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Qualities

 One of the greatest maladies of our existence today is the superficiality with which we deal with people. Relationships have become “contacts”. External image has become prime! We have classes and professionals in all aspects of external grooming and image building. And a great source of income , too! Because only that is accepted in society and work places.

“Family “spirit is gradually dying out. More families are at feud than ever before. And more “friends” are being cultivated. It is a classic case of giving your best to friends and becoming intolerant of family members.

Have we thought why? It is a jumbled up mess: of self-seeking, avarice, ambition, popularity and very little ethics. Also of distances. If Manipulations and hypocrisy work, why would anyone be foolish enough to practice virtue?

Today, we just WANT and WANT and WANT: contacts we can use, money, power everything! And to hell with anything that smacks of old values!

Do we remember how sacred the vedic marriage rituals were? The depth of the core of living? Or the code of respect? Nope! We are losing it all.

I understand that lifestyle dictates values. But ethics dictates your spiritual journey. The latter however, mostly loses to self-aggrandizement.

Controlling and more controls spell power, whether of wealth or people. Or anything else….

We are so busy pointing out the weaknesses of others that we forget, that however successful you are, you need to be a good human. Also, that it is wiser to look at yourself as you are and work on your dark spots than feel happy pointing at others. This will not light up your darkness anyway.

Qualities like compassion need time to understand connectivity. We are so divided today that connectivity is not up for discussion.

Praise be for spiritual teachers who are trying to reverse these trends through imparting the right knowledge. And hope there will be practitioners instead of critics.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

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Quote of the day

 

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

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

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Contentment

 We discover something new everyday. I realised that a feeling of contentment depends greatly on acceptability. The reason we often burn on the inside is the conflict that arises from not accepting things as they are.

And the most arduous and conflicting of all is to embark on a project of changing people or situations.

How many of these have you all been able to change ? I am certain of the answer. So, what next ? Accept what is. And if you look for pluses in what is, wonders of wonders , you will actually find them.

Life always compensates a lack of something with something else. Only the human mind gets stuck and refuses to accept a different scenario. The mind is really like the rusty pin of an erstwhile record player which used to get stuck on the deepening grooves of old records with every play.

Well… the only way is to heave ho and catapult yourself onto a new space with energy . Regretfully, that energy is also stagnant within the mind space. So, once you accept only , can you move into a better space.

So much knowledge but half baked ! Until you actually apply it with understanding. And THEN you learn to smile, shrug and move on without any internal damage…….And there comes your contentment !

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

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Quote of the day

 

Process of discovery

 

We talk so randomly about the “realities” of life, when we are not in the least aware of what is “real” and what just appears to be “real”.

Knowledge, specially ultimate knowledge about reality is accepted   Sometime piecemeal, sometimes partially and very , very rarely , completely. The latter is evidently a seeker. Others may pooh pooh the knowledge which doesn’t at all suit their comfort level.

In any case, everything is cyclical. So, you can go round and round for many births. Growth is when you break out of that cycle to explore what lies beyond.

Reality is beyond the appearance of it, which is not reality but falsity. We live within this falsity which appears to be real to us within our body and mind consciousness.

We have not explored our vastness and our life is moving towards completion each day.

The awareness has to set in for the process of discovery to kick in.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Effort

 

What we do when we are diffident ! We may have an open mind but we would refuse many opportunities as “I can’t do this” or “ I am not cut out for this” or even, “ I am not interested. “ is anyone born interested ?

I am quite convinced that if we just say to ourselves,” no harm in trying it out”, we  have already broken the wall around us. It is a start. Next comes sustaining the effort. Never anticipate results. It is the joy in just doing something.

We have a tendency to expect results even before mastering anything. And what is that ? “ I want to show people I can do it”. We do most things for other people’s approval.

We seldom think ,  “I am enjoying what I am doing and that is most important. I am doing this for ME.”

But even that enjoyment might begin to happen a few days or months down when we have built this activity into our daily routine. Like, we start reading a book reluctantly because someone has insisted. And a few pages later, we get so engrossed that we finish the book cover to cover.

Keeping an open mind is therefore , a great starting to acquiring knowledge. After all, if we keep the door closed, where will the trash air enter ?

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

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Journey

 

Pain is inevitable. There is no growth or evolution without it. The triggers causing pain could be either from other lifetimes or this one. Even if our life’s path has been chosen wisely and in the right direction , periodic tests , some intense, will arrive along the journey. Some will be unpalatable and challenge our attachments.

But you know what ? This is exactly what we need to reflect on what we want in our lives and what we must accept as not available. There is another angle too, which is, what we had but didn’t work .

So, at every step, knowledge is incomplete unless we learn and move in the chosen direction.

The release of knots does not mean disconnection. It just means smoothening out and getting back into the flow. Surface waves which have been calmed.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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