Sister Shivani- Brahma Kumaris- Happiness Unlimited Series

9/20/2011

Its been a while since I posted anything. I'm going to start back with some introspection that I'm in the process of, something long overdue. Everyday, I'm trying to watch a bit of Sister Shivani (Brahma Kumaris) on YouTube. At the end of each segment, they do a nice recap. I'd like to use this entry to post my favorite ones here:

Happiness Unlimited Part 1

• Happiness is not dependent on physical objects
• Objects, possessions, gadgets, are designed to give us comfort
• Physical comfort is different from emotional comfort.  Happiness is a feeling.
• Happiness is our internal creation, and can be created irrespective of external comforts
• We use objects as a stimulus to create a response, but the response is our choice.
• Different people create different responses, using the same stimulus.

Happiness Unlimited Part 2

• Happiness is a state of being, created while working towards the goal, not a feeling to be experienced after achieving the goal.
• If we believe that happiness is after achieving, then we create stress, anger, and fear while achieving, and thus do not experience happiness.
• Before I take the responsibility of those around me, I need to take the responsibility of my own thinking and feelings.
• When I am happy and take care of others, then they will be happy.

Happiness Unlimited Part 3

• Stress is a pain, which comes to tell me, there is something that I need to change.
• Stress is our creation of wrong thoughts, which has an effet on our efficiency, memory power, decision power, and hence our performance.
• Stress has an impact on our physical end emotional well being, and hence any amount of stress is damaging.
• Targets , Pressures, Deadlines, Exams, are natural, but Stress is our CHOICE.
• Stress is equal to PRESSURE (situations) divided by RESILIENCE (Inner Strength)
• My first responsibility is any situation is to first take charge of my state of mind, because that is the only thing which is in my control.

Happiness Unlimited Part 4

• Our belief systems decide our way of living.  We need to experiment what we are learning in order to change our old belief systems
• I don't want peace, but I am PEACE.  Now I will be at peace and do things outside
• Try a new belief system, I am a Peaceful Being, now experiment with it, when we experience the result, it is the truth
• Every person I meet, every act I do, I will do it with awareness, I am a peaceful being
• Happiness is not dependent on people.  No one can make me happy and I can't make others happy, till we want to do it for ourselves.
• No one is responsible for my hurt, pain, fear, or anger.  It is my own creation in response to their behavior.  I have another choice.

Happiness Unlimited Part 5

• My responses to people need to based on my personality, not based on the behavior of others
• The way we think and behave is not for other people, but first for ourselves, because we are the first ones to experience it.
• Lets take charge of our mind, instead of trying to control others, and expecting that if they change, then my mind will be in control
• Let us choose how we want to think, feel and be in every relationship. We have always tried to make others happy,because we thought when they will be happy then I will be happy.
• When we do something for others, let us understand that we choose to do it because they matter to us, and so we are doing it for ourselves, then we will be happy.
• Taking our mind to TV, shopping and other distractions is only a deviation from the pain, it is not happiness, because the healing has not happened.

Happiness Unlimited Part 6

• Our personality is a combination fo 5 types of sanskars, i.e. habits or traits.
• Some sanskars we get from our parents and family, which we call hereditary sanskars.  It is because we are in the influence of their vibrations.
• Then there are sanskars we create because of our environment, our nationality, religion, culture, and friends.
• A very important set of sanskars we carry from our past birth.  A soul carries its personality traits created in one costume with it to the next costume.
• The fourth type of sankskars are the ones we create through our own will power.  We all have the same will poer, it is only for us to use it, because each of us is a powerful being.
• The fifth type of sanskars are the original sanskars of every soul, which are Purity, Peace, Love, Bliss, Knowledge, Power and Truth.

Happiness Unlimited Part 7**

• Self awareness means just to watch my thoughts, to be able to see what I am thinking and to be aware that I am the creator of these thoughts
• Check if this is the right thinking
• Can I change this thought
• We create 40-50K thoughts in a day (25-20 per minute) can be classified into 4 categoies
• Thought 1: Pure, powerful postiive, selfless;
• Thought 2: Negative, thoughts of ego, anger, hatred, resentment, fear, rejection , criticism
• Thought 3: Necessary thoughts are thoughts related to action, neutral
• Tought 4: Waste thoughts , which are thoughts about past, future, both , and not in our control

Happiness Unlimited Part 8

• If we change our thoughts, words and action will change.  Hence Personality transformation begins with our thoughts.
• I the peaceful being am the actor, playing different roles of relationships and responsibilities.
• When we interact with people let us interact with the soul, the pure being, rather than the acquired body, positions, and achievements.
• In any situation, playing our role with so many actors, let us stop writing their script, because they are not in our control.  Let us write only our script.
• When we keep thinking about what others are doing, we are only depleting our energy.

Happiness Unlimited Part 9

• If people are behaving in a reactive manner, at that time, to remain stable internally, is strength, and hence Peace is strength not weakness.
• Anger is not strength.  It is a sign that I have lost control.
• My every thought is followed by a FEELING.  So if I'm not feeling nice, I have to stop and check, what have I been thinking.
• My feelings over a period of time, created on the basis of my thoughts, develop my ATTITUDE- about people, situations, work or about the world.
• My attitude comes out into ACTION.  Any action done repeatedly becomes my HABIT.  All my habits put together is my PERSONALITY.  At every step in life, this PERSONALITY determines my DESTINY.
• I the being , am an embodiment of 7 qualities- Purity, Peace, Love, Bliss, Knowledge, Power, and Truth.

Happiness Unlimited Part 10

• People predicting our future, are only telling us a probability.  It's only a prediction, a PROBABILITY, not a REALITY
• We have the power to listen to the prediction and still choose our response, i.e. our thoughts and actions, and thereby create a reality of our choice.
• We always thought we need to do things outside to change the way we feel, but the reality is we need to change how we feel to change things outside. 
• Happiness is not to be wanted from ppl, but is to be created and then shared with people when we meet them.
• We are not human beings, doing things to be at peace; but we are human beings, who be at peace and do things.

Happiness Unlimited Part 11**

• We always thought that anger internal is natural, so we created external measures to postpone our reactions.  If we take care of our thoughts, we will not create the thoughts of anger even internally.
•   Our thoughts are created based on our past experiences and the information that we take in through our sense organs.
• The first few hours in the morning, the absorption power of the mind is very high, we nee to take care of the quality of information that we take in.
• To protect ourselves from creating negative thoughts, we need to avoid news papers or news channels early in the morning.
• Let me try a new way of living.  To be able to create pure, powerful positive thoughts naturally, let me begin the day with reading or listening to pure and positive information.
• The last layer of information at night influences my quality of thoughts while sleeping.  Let's finish the day with a few minutes of reading or listening to pure information.

Happiness Unlimited 12

• Every time we think of the past, we are making it the present, because we are creating the same emotions again.
• Past is passed.  Full stop.  Let it not repeat on the mind.
• There is nothing to learn from the situation that happened.  The only thing I need to learn is whether I had the choice of responding in another manner.
• Holding onto the past, not letting go- will only create pain.in me.  The situation is the same, but the longer we hold it, the pain increases.
• In relationships, no one is ever wrong, each one is right from their own perspective. Detaching from my own perspective and understanding the other's perspective is empathy.

Happiness Unlimited 13

• Our thoughts are created by past experiences, the information we take in, and most importantly, our belief system.
• Others appreciation and acceptance are the foundation of our self esteem, so we are always dependent on them to feel good about ourselves.
• In interactions when we get hurt, we are unable to understand the perspective of others.  And so, to understand that perspective, we need to become stable.
• People who may make us feel good today, may not be able to do that tomorrow and then we feel low with the same people.
• Its important to take charge of how we feel, instead of being dependent on others.  That is, to be INDEPENDENT means to be dependent only on the INSIDE.
• Let us be ourselves, and not keep changing our behavior based on how others behave with us.

Happiness Unlimited 14

• As we become aware of our thoughts, lets check the belief system from which they arise.
• Anger is needed to get work edone.  We have lived with this belief system and teach our children to grow up with the same.
• We like people to deal with us with LOVE, because each of us is a loveful being.  So everyone around us would like to be the same.
• Every time we use anger as the tool, we experience the negative energy as we give it to them.  They get hurt and their vibrations travel to us.  So we get more than we give.
• Our responsibility is take care of ourselves, then people, and then get the work done.  Lets try a new belief system- Love is needed to get work done.
• When we punish a child, the guilt the child created dis-empowers the child.  Pain can never bring about any realization, because there will not be the power to transform.

Happiness Unlimited 15

• When we use anger, and others experience fear, we mistake it as respect.  Fear creates pain and reduces the efficiency of working
• The ones who suppress their anger because of fear, then create anger in the presence of those weaker than them, only to make themselves feel powerful.
• Fear and respect can never be together.  Respect is pure and positive energy, fear is deep negative energy.  Therefore, those who fear us, do not respect us.
• Ego is lack of Self respect.  In any situation, if we react aggressively or get hurt, it is our ego, and if we remain stable and have faith in ourselves, it is self respect.
• Self respect means who I am and waht I am doing - is the best to my capacity up to the present moment and in the next moment, I am ready to change.
• When we have a strong self esteem, the power to adjust, accept and mould ourselves in situations will come naturally.

Happiness Unlimited 16

• Spirituality is a very natural, simple, and practical way of living.  Spirituality is not doing things or becoming someone, its just about being who we truly are.
• It is not necessary that what the majority believe, is the truth, it is only a belief.  Let me experiment with the belief, till I am comfortable, and only then accept it as the truth.
• Let us clean our mind, before me we meet someone again, so we do not interact with them from the perspective of past experiences, because they could have changed.
• As soon as we start creating thoughts of hurt, let us take out a few minutes to be with ourselves, and counsel ourselves with powerful, positive, and loveful thoughts.
• No one can hurt me, and I cannot hurt anyone.  My behavior can be a trigger for others, I need to change my behavior, but I cannot take responsibility of their hurt, it is their creation.
• Let us take care that we create the right thoughts, so that we can speak what we think, and do not pretend to be tactful in our relationships.

Happiness Unlimited Part 17

• No one can hurt me, and I do not hurt anyone.  My behavior can be a trigger for the others, I need to change my behavior, but I cannot take responsibility of their hurt, it is their creation.
• People can hold us responsible for their pain, but if we create guilt, then it is negative energy, it depletes our power and hence we are not able to transform.  Realisation means a mistake once is not to be repeated.
• To bring about a transformation I need to know- Why I want to change?  What about myself do I want to change? How do I change?  Unless the Why and What to change is clear, the How will not get implemented.
• Everyone around me is an actor, and each one is playing their role.  Each actor is a pure being.  Let me the pure being interact with another pure being, not interact with them on the basis of their roles.
• When we are natural in our relationships, and accept others as they are, it gives them the freedom to be their natural selves.
• When I am soul conscious, my consciousness triggers the same consciousness in others, and they are able to experience the purity.

Happiness Unlimited Part 18*

• When we are peaceful and stable, then we are happy and we accept others as they are, it means we love them, because love is unconditional acceptance.
• The energy of love is our natural quality.  It gets blocked when we become judgmental about people.
• When we think about other's weaknesses, then their weaknesses become the quality of our thoughts, and very soon a part of our personality
• Let us become aware and observe one quality in everyone we meet and interact with
• Let us be in the awareness- I am a loveful being, and so is everyone I meet, and I accept each one as they are.
• Accepting people means- their behavior does not create a disturbance in our mind.  We tell them what is right but with the energy of love, not rejection.

Happiness Unlimited 19*

• Criticism des-empowers, de-motivates people.  Appreciation empowers and energizes them.  Let us be aware that our thoughts should b as sweet as the words that we use with people
• We create 25-30 thoughts per minute but speak only a few sentences per minute.  Thoughts are more in number and travel faster than our words.
• Let us be liberal with our appreciation, because it gives people the energy to realize and transform their weaknesses.
• We cannot make people realize their weaknesses.  What to change and WHy to change can be realized by each one only for themselves.
• Everyone has knowledge, they do not need advice.  They need power to change their sanskars, that power comes from our love and appreciation.
• Every thought and word we send out to a little child is being used by them to create an image of themselves, i.e. their self esteem.

Happiness Unlimited Part 20

• Ego is an attachment to a wrong image of myself.  It is when we are not aware of our true identity, and identify ourselves with all that we have acquired.
• Our body, name, position, relationships, cast, nationality, are all acquired.  They are all mine, but they are not I.  I am a pure conscient being and it is my body, name, family, position.
• A royal soul is one whose state of mind is not dependent on others.  Royalty means being a master on oneself, not a victim or a slave.
• Detachment means my state of mind is not dependent on others, and then I can remain stable and give unconditional love and acceptance.
• Worry is not love.  When we worry we create and send negative energy.  In any situation, let's create the right quality of thoughts, that is love, care and concern.
• When we remain stable, and then share with others - why they need to change, then it is only for their benefit, and not for our happiness.

Happiness Unlimited Part 21

• When we learn something pure and positive, we need to take it as a tool and experiment it in the say.  See how it works, check the obstacles, experience the benefits and hence empower ourselves
• We have grown up with the belief system, that performances are appreciated by people.  Hence our self esteem,, i.e. we feel good only when we perform well, and our performance is accepted by others.
• Let us appreciate values and qualities in children and people around us, so that each of us is able to build our self esteem on our core values and not dependent on performances or public acceptance.
• When we live our lives by our core values , principals and with integrity, then our energy of conviction will empower our children to love by those values

Happiness Unlimited Part 22

• Our values and powers are our property, we have the capacity to use them with everyone, in every situation, every time.
• The value of love and compassion is mine, if I can use it with my children, I can also use it with my team at work.
• When we go for a spiritual retreat, the environment and the people there, awaken the same peace and purity in us, but it is our own energy which we have emerged in their company.  Now we can create it at home and work.  We can't get peace from somewhere, we can learn the art of how to create it.
• Judging, criticizing and controlling others depletes our energy of peace.  Let us consciously choose to to critcise and be judgmental about people.

Happiness Unlimited Part 23

• The belief system- life is a competition, creates fear and insecurity and hence depletes our happiness
• My life is my journey to my destination, to my destination, at my speed, using my capacity, and on the basis of my values and principals
• Living by the belief system- life is a competition, creates stress, anger, jealousy, hatred and is one of the main reasons why we resort to unethical practices
• We are not in competition with anyone.  Our reference is only our own best , and we keep working towards getting better than our best.  It is a journey of improvement and empowerment.
• Let us co-operate with everyone instead of competing.  The positivity that gets created within and the blessings we get from everyone, keeps us contented, happy and successfu

Happiness Unlimited Part 24

• When we compare and compete with others, we create fear, insecurity, jealousy, stress and this depletes our energy.  Let us focus only on ourselves and use all of our energy to push ourselves forward.
• Let us take this belief system today and experiment with it - life is a beautiful journey, which I travel according to my capacity and values.  Once we experience the result, then we realize its the truth, and thereby change our destiny.
• When we set a goal, we visualize the goal.   Visualization enables us to create the right kind of thoughts to achieve the goal.  We should not create any thoughts of doubt or fear.
• The mind does not understand the language of opposites.  If we create a thought - I should not get angry - the scene that gets created is only of anger.  Instead, create the though - I am a peaceful being, and visualize the scene of being at peace in every situation.

Happiness Unlimited Part 26*

• Each thought has an effect on the cells of the body.  Wrong thinking manifests itself into a disease in the body.  While we heal the body, let us also change our thinking so that we can experience total health.
• Visualization is a powerful tool along with Meditation- in which we use the power of the mind - sending vibrations of love and peace to clean and clear the blockages in the bod.
• To heal the body, we need to heal our emotional blockages.  Let us not hold on to anything in the past.  Mistakes we have made, lets not hold the guilt.  It is the past.  Let us delete that thought and feeling.
• If others have done wrong, let us understand, they had a reason for what they did   According to me they were wrong, but still my hurt is my creation, and now I have the power to let go, i.e. not keep those thoughts on my mind. Everything that happens to me is only a return of my past Karma, let me now settle it with dignity.