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Thought for the Day:
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Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati
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Peace - Power - Success
A
Mirror to the Nobility of Our Nature
We are richer for a brighter
view. Too much of worldly wisdom and gloom make black things appear more
black, difficult things yet more difficult, big problems irresolvable.
We are nobler for a better idea
of things and persons. It takes a little purity of heart, a little more of
wisdom, a little more of goodness, a little more of intelligence,
calmness, clear-sightedness, resources and inner strength, to attribute
the best motives to others, to notice quickly the silver lining to the big
dark cloud, the blessing in some trial, the diamond in the coal, the nut
in the shell, not to talk of, but bear the difficulty till it is over.
When we do that, it expresses the
maturity of our soul, the nobility of our nature, the greatness of our
spirit. That in turn, increases the maturity, the nobility, the greatness
of our being. Our happiness, our unhappiness, success or failure, progress
or regress rests upon the kind of view we take, the way we understand and
react to anything, or anyone.
From Doubt, Anxiety and Fear - to Faith, Love,
Peace and Joy
Doubt, anxiety, fear, - these are
the heritage of the mind. When the mind rules us, our happiness is
overcome by anxiety, our knowledge cancelled by doubt, and our life
darkened by fear.
Hope, trust, faith, love,
success, peace, happiness, - these are the qualities of the inner divine
Consciousness. When the heart of that Consciousness, which knows with the
absolute certainty of direct experience, that God is not only the highest
Reality in ourselves, but also the source of everything creative,
positive, peaceful, delightful, powerful, - rules us, we are owners of
peace, joy, power that can be broken by nothing.
Whether we are weak or strong,
unhappy or happy, restless or peaceful, depends on whether we are lost in
the obsessing superficial functions of the mind, or living right from the
deeps of the inner divine Consciousness. We are happiest and invincible,
when we live in things larger than our petty mind. The Greater supports
the smaller. The inner interior maintains the outer. The more we are in
the Greater, the more we rule the smaller, and are never ruled by it. The
problems that the smaller raises are resolved by our association and
communion with the Greater. The riddles and sorrows of the superficial
life are dispelled for ever, by living our life from the deeps of our
wondrous, immortal, self-luminous, inner consciousness and being.
Everything About You is Better
Your Body is Better when You Are not Conscious of
it
Your body is better when your
mind is not in it, but in thoughts of strength, peace, love, joy. When you
fall asleep, your mind is not conscious of the body, it is not in the
body. Therefore, your body is deeply rested, rejuvenated, energized. When
you are seeing a very interesting film in the cinema-hall, your mind is
not in your body, but in the story that the film is unfolding. Therefore,
you forget your body and do not feel the little pain that there was in
your leg before you entered the cinema-hall. From these instances it is
clear that your body is better when your mind is not in it, but in
something positive.
Keep your mind always in
something elevating, something inspiring, something higher and valuable.
Stay your mind always on greater things, Love, Peace, God. Your body will
be in best health.
Your Mind is at Best when it is in Something that
Transcends it.
Your mind is better, when it is
not in itself, but in something Lovely, or something Scientific, or
something Artistic, or something Divine or something Great. When you see
something very beautiful, your mind is not in itself but in that object of
beauty. Therefore, you are so very happy.
A person who is depressed and
habitually occupied with some mental problem, transcends his depression
and his problem when something great, or grand or startling, attracts and
engages his attention. Therefore, lift the mind out of itself by turning
its attention to something greater and divine. Your mind is best, when it
is in that which transcends the mind: the Divine in you, the Divine in
all.
To be in that which is
liberating, transforming, divinising, in ourselves and in all creation, is
not to escape from this world, but to bring into this world of activity
and achievement a new power, a new strength, a new joy and a new peace
which will enable us to live, labour and accomplish things at our best.
Your Prayer is Best and Most Effective when it is
not in Itself but in the Object of Your Prayer
So long as your mind is
preoccupied with the words you utter and the way you are praying, with the
prayer itself, your prayer is not fruitful. But, the moment your mind is
not in the prayer but in the object prayed to, which is God, - the prayer
becomes most powerful and fruitful. While praying, be not in the act of
praying, but in the object of prayer, - God.
Your Circumstances Are Better
Your circumstances are better
when your mind is not lost in them, but is in something that transcends
them, - the infinite Divine Presence from which emanate all Beauty, all
Light, all Peace, all Joy.
Your World is Better
Our world is better, when our
hearts are not in it, but in that which is really valuable, truthful,
beautiful, that which is all-wonderful, - God.
Thanks to your wisdom and your
wise methods, everything about you is better and so wonderful.
You Can Always Remain a Master
Wherever placed, on the tops of
mountains or elsewhere, the water flows down to lower and lower regions.
This is its nature. Though elevated and inspired, the mind soon falls down
and occupies itself with lower order of thoughts, feelings and
experiences. This is its nature. Though pressed down to the earth, it is
the very nature of any gas or air to rise up. It is the very nature of the
inner spiritual Consciousness in you to rise up, even though pressed down
by many pressures. When it rises up, you have rare inner happiness, peace,
strength, and the ability to remain a master of everything. Always seek to
stay in the inner state of spiritual Consciousness. Let all your thoughts,
feelings, actions flow from such states of inner Consciousness. You will,
then, be the master of everything around you.
Your mastery over circumstances
and conditions, and your capacity to remain in an independent peace, joy
and power, emerge from your entrance into your inner Consciousness.
Stay in, and work from the inner
Consciousness. You will always remain a master.
Elevated Thoughts and Large Feelings Make
Sunshine
in Daily Life
Hatred increases hatred, Love
dissolves hatred and creates love. Now, choose for yourself that which is
most advantageous and beneficial to yourself.
Gloom adds to gloom, and attracts
from everyside more gloom to an extent that the victim feels that he can
no more bear it and he loses the will to overcome it. Therefore, nip all
gloom in the bud.
Add sunshine to sunshine, by one
illuminating thought after another, by one large sentiment after another,
by one brave feeling after another, by one great resolve after another.
Thus, make of your life an eternal and evernew sunshine.
Personality and Success
The Spiritual Way for Personality-Power
When you are in love with God,
your perfume fills the world. In other words, when your heart constantly
throbs with real Love for the infinite Beauty of the Creative
Consciousness that God is, all mankind, the whole nature, finds your
Presence a fragrance, a power, a joy, a peace, a perfection.
The Psychology of Success
Always predispose and
precondition the mind to success. Anticipate success, and do the very best
you can, to achieve it. The predisposition of your mind, for success, adds
new strength and power to your labours that are directed towards success.
You discover what you are
searching for. You find what you wish to find. You see what you desire to
see. You have what you will to have. Columbus, Copernicus, Edison, Bell,
are some of the famous examples of the fact, that we discover what we are
searching for.
If you suspect sex, and search
for it in someone's conduct, you are bound to find it, at least you think
you have found it, and you go with the idea that you were right, and that
your opinion is objective. If you are noble enough to sense that which is
best in the conduct of someone else, you are great.
Men are not created great. Men
are born with the capacity to become great. They become great to the
extent they use that capacity. Saints and supermen are not born as is
generally thought. Men become saints and supermen by their extraordinary
exertions which the Grace of God blesses. The capacity for saintliness,
for superhuman Love and Wisdom, for attainment of divine Perfection, is in
every person. We become saints and superhuman individuals, when we use
these inner capacities more and more. These great capacities do not come
into action, unless we are restlessly using the existing capacities which
seem to be so normal now, so ordinary, so weak, now, but which by use
become so great, extraordinary, uncommon. When the common gifts are used
continuously, persistently, day after day, they become without anyone's
observation, uncommon, superhuman.
Hundred Powers for You
Knowledge is Power. Love is
Power. Faith is Power. Goodness is Power. Virtue is Power. Character is
Power. Control and right direction of the will is Power. Mastery over, and
elevation of the Mind is Power. And the greatest Power, the Power of
powers, the Power which contains in itself millions of powers, is
God-Consciousness. Let us obtain all these powers, and enrich our daily
life with them.
We have heaven in ourselves and
around us, to the extent we develop these various powers. Our real and
evergrowing wealth is Love, Knowledge, Faith, Goodness, God-Consciousness.
Faith sustains us in all our
trials, and crowns our days of happiness with permanency.
Love aids us triumph over hundred
barriers and difficulties. Knowledge illuminates our life and makes it a
story of progress and perfection.
Goodness brings us a number of
good friends, and is a continual source of our peace, harmony, joy and
inner strength. It endears us to God and to Humanity.
Growth and Development
We have to grow not by suffering, but by Love; not by
eloquent preaching, but by silent practising; not by taking but by giving;
not by keeping but by using; not by impoverishing but enriching others.
Growth and development result from manifesting the abilities and
capacities latent in us. We become richer and richer not by adding things
to our possessions, but by expressing more and more whatever is best
within ourselves. External things can be, and usually are a burden, the
internal things are endless and yet are lighter than air. External things
do not come with us when we leave this world, but these other riches that
emerge from using our very best inner capacities, follow us wherever we
go. What is more, they go ahead of us, announce our coming, and make for
us a Heaven wherever we move.
Wisdom of Life
1. It is not worth having, what
we do not deserve. It is not worth receiving, what we have not earned. It
is not worth keeping, what does not grow. The thing for which we have paid
the highest price, is the most valuable. Nothing demands so great a price
as continued evolution and God-Experience.
2. As a rule, we are as good as
that object of Goodness which we love. We have as much power or strength,
as we think we have. We reap that which we sow. We speak just that which
is in the mouth of our heart.
The Knowledge that Illuminates Life
Where we cannot change our
circumstances, we can change our mind. Then, our circumstances become new.
Where we cannot change a person, we can change our attitude to him. Then,
we can live with him in great peace and with much mutual advantage.
One can be in the best of
circumstances and yet be distressed, if one's mind is bad. Whereas one can
be happy even in the worst of circumstances, if the mind is good.
Everything is, therefore, in your mind.
Render the mind calm, - the whole
world appears to be calm and peaceful. Render the mind good, kind, pure, - the whole world seems to be good, kind, pure. Illuminate the mind with
knowledge and experience of God, you will find the whole world a Heaven.
The Brave Children of God in the University of
Life
Ask not for escape from the
world, but for the strength and illumination to overcome it. When you are
stronger than the world, in your will, wisdom, love, you overcome the
world. In spirit and in consciousness you can always rise superior to the
world and its conditions.
Ask not for fine circumstances,
but for the intelligence and the determination to make the best of the
worst circumstances.
Ask not for more wealth, but for
more wisdom and virtue, to use whatever wealth you have on hand, rightly,
nobly, intelligently, so that it is not only multiplied hundredfold, but
also attracts to itself more of wealth.
Ask not for freedom from
difficulties, but for the strength and determination to stand through
them, to conquer them, to outgrow them.
In a world where everybody wants
easy and good circumstances, peace, and joy, be not yourself a seeker of
them, but a granter of them.
Bad Conditions and Good Behaviour
Dark clouds will always attempt
to trouble you, by pouring rains on you. That is their nature, and no one
can change that nature. However, let it be your nature to protect
yourself, by holding over yourself an umbrella. If you defy them, and
don't hold your umbrella, you will be drenched, and will be ill. Any
complaint against them will worsen your situation, and weaken your
strength to master it.
Let the dark clouds do their
duty, and you, do your own duty. This is the way to make of life a song of
peace, joy, harmony, power, progress and blessedness.
From Weakness to Real Power
Problems trouble the limited
thing. There are no problems in the Unlimited. Man's inner strength and
greatness rest upon his inner knowledge that there is the Infinite that
sustains him. The moment man grows aware of his intimate relations to God,
the infinite Reality, he becomes fearless, peaceful, happy. His perfection
lies in his conscious experience of oneness with God. We live best in the
world of time, only by obtaining the consciousness of the timeless
Reality. Our life in the world of space is enriched, strengthened, and
fulfilled by our inner contact with the Spaceless Being. The knowledge of
the Divine grants man perfect humanity and abundant life.
The pond obtains a rare inner
strength, when it knows that there is the ocean that comes to its aid in
the form of the clouds and the rains. It stops stinking and has no fear of
being dried up, or dirtied, the moment it permits the ocean to flood it.
The Practical Psychology of the Eternal Life
Love is better than merely doing
good. Let good deeds flow from Love and be governed by Love.
God is better than mere Love.
For, God is the source of all Good and all Love. Therefore, let your Love
spring from your dynamic knowledge of God in all beings.
Let God come first, Love next,
Service third. These three - God, Love, Service - are the wonder-workers
that make your life a Success, a Heaven, a Joy for ever.
Talk to God, hour by hour, like
the greatest Saints and also be loving like them. Like them be serviceful,
be compassionate to all creatures and be wise.
Love, Beauty and Freedom
God is Peace:
Show forth more peace in your thoughts, feelings and life. You will touch
God.
God is Light:
Increase the Light of your Knowledge. You will perceive Him.
God is Love:
Express Love, and grow greater and greater in it. You will experience Him.
God is Power:
Be full of strength, energy, power.
God is Beauty:
Let your heart, mind, soul and whole being be full of beauty.
God is Freedom:
Obtain freedom from doubts, limitations, errors,
unhappiness, restlessness, weakness, and manifest in daily life, more and
more luminously and dynamically, the qualities of your essential inner
divine Consciousness, - Love, Light, Peace, Power, Beauty, Freedom.
- Swami Omkarananda
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