Self-Inflicted

 As I study more, there are so many eureka moments! Incredible learning.

Why do people suffer? The reasons.

We feel we have made a mistake. We shall not do it again. But we forget and make the same mistakes again and again.

Conclusion: memory does not teach us.

Stored experiences from many lives are tendencies that develop within us and THESE form our lessons for growth. Tendencies more of suffering but also good times.

If we notice the nature of each individual around us, their thought processes, what triggers them, what they can tolerate (or not), we will find that karma from many lives really dictate our lives.

We may therefore be born with these tendencies: caring or cruel, considerate or selfish, gentle or aggressive etc.

It is just the way it is and therefore, no blame is to be heaped.

We are therefore, just different, working with different karmic cycles.

The only way we can find harmony and peace for working out our karma is if we learn to live peacefully and with understanding with one another, accept each other as different in some ways and similar in others. And more important. Live and let live with understanding that we are all in the same boat, except some may be in a row boat, some in a sail boat and some in a luxury liner.

Practice only positive feelings where people are concerned. Conflicts give rise to more undesirable karma. Offer love. Offer peace. Don’t throw pebbles in the flowing water to disturb its flow. Counteract negative feelings and action with positive ones.

This superimposition of the negative with the positive will, in time, remove suffering.

So yes, suffering IS self-inflicted and can be removed only by each of us. Don’t worry about opinions. They don’t matter. Only YOU know who you are and how you can alleviate your own suffering.

Surekha Kothari

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

www.instagram.com/author_surekhakothari/

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

Sympathize

 

The world today is a difficult one for children. Tough competition, too many temptations and parental ambitions and controls. Not to mention the constant peer pressure.

When I see parents slogging after their children, a part of me knows their challenges and another part sympathizes with the children’s inability to be just children. They bear too much responsibility.

The children of today mature very fast. There are no silly pranks, innocent honesty, the exposure to a rustic life and connection to the earth. Everything they are groomed for generally is goal oriented. In a way, this is not a bad thing. I guess times have changed so much that perhaps, they may never know the days we saw.

Of course, parenting is a tough call today. You have to be very hands on and steer the children towards healthy living. That means keeping them away from temptations of the wrong kind.

By the same token, the distancing of family elders may deprive the children of emotional anchors and wholesome well-being.

Well…. These are just observations. The wheel of life is turning. Times are changing. Progress is being newly defined. Values are being re written. Priorities are vastly different.

It is a different world to which old timers are willy nilly adjusting. Some still suffer with attachments which bring in much sadness. And some have understood that they need to accept inevitable situations and move on.

Ultimately, there IS no option but to accept and adjust. We have the power. But we need to understand the current scenario in order to generate that power and once that point is reached, it becomes easy to let go and move towards your source with peace and joy.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Quote of the day

 

Peace

 Sometime in life, you have to develop

Your sense of peace, which is yours alone.

Whatever you have is enough.

Whatever your needs are will be met by the universe.

HE will decide when you receive, what and how much you receive.

The futility of thoughts can take away from peace.

Comparisons are odious, to say the least.

Moving forward is the key

And the tendency to JUST BE!

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

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External Mask

 

Why is it that we are unable to be peaceful Consistently? It’s not as if we don’t know what constitutes peace. We are very well aware. Yet, we allow it to be disturbed every now and then.

Other humans affect us whether we like it or not, or want it or not. A super human control I have yet to see! Except in my guru who is far more elevated.

Instead of perfecting our external masks, ideally, we must master being our intrinsic selves. Our minds are devious. We have learnt the art of hiding our turbulence as an ocean would conceal its waves to create the illusion of appearing calm. But it takes forever to actually BE what we are pretending to be.

Also, the fact is, the more you try to BE the path, the more severe the obstacles that confront you to challenge you further. And the stronger should be your courage, not only to overcome these challenges to forge ahead but also to pay the price the universe demands of you. By leaving much behind you, for, unless you learn to leave the baggage behind, you will have to struggle more to BECOME the path.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

Spiritual Environment

 

The cause for much suffering is the realization that things could have been done differently. We see a heavy price being paid for our actions.

On the flip side is the dawn of knowledge that nothing COULD have been done differently until the dawn of knowledge, that there was karmic fallout to experience.

Only out of deep suffering comes the thirst for spiritual knowledge although the exposure to a spiritual environment may have been since very early in life.

Attachment is like a leech that does not get unstuck easily. In fact, sometimes never! Leading to hurts, anger, unfulfilled expectations and sometimes the shock of having a diametrically opposite life than envisaged for oneself.

The equations are warped. Simplicity and straightforwardness is equal to suffering. Suffering is due to not knowing any better, translating into ignorance. Wisdom eludes us until “ prarabdha” karma is around us. And vision starts clearing after a great deal of effort and working on oneself.

By the time the vision clears, there is a lot of damage done. But unless our minds extricate from the world, spiritual knowledge cannot be translated into actual practice. One needs to get into the eye of the storm to experience the aftermath of peace.

People say it is better to skim the surface of life rather than suffer. As if it is in the hands of humans! And is that a wise option anyway?

To cultivate wisdom and virtue can take many lifetimes. Avid students of Vedanta also find the worldly journey difficult. But one has to look ahead and bring in the light into our lives, however much darkness may envelope us. And be confident that the light is just beyond the darkness, even if the darkness seems like it is pitch black at the time.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

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

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

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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

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Environment

 There is a feel to life. And everyone has a different feel, based on our environment, how we were brought up, what values we grew up with, what our emotional state was, whether we were taught kindness and love … who we grew up with , who our friends were growing up, how much controls we had on us by elders … I can go on and on…

The point I am trying to make here is, how useless then is it to compare ourselves to others for whom all of the above may have been so very different from each of us !

It really baffles me that people could get so obsessive about someone else’s life that they forget that we can only be better versions of ourselves , not of others. And for this to happen, the focus is our life, not anyone else’s.

Many of us find it easier to teach the simple things of life than actually BE simple. It seems quite a contradiction when you think of teaching as the best form of learning.

Teach yourself to take your own advice and let others do the same is a good mantra for peace and growth all around.

Surekha Kothari

www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com

surekhakothari.wordpress.com

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

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