Cloudy or Clear?

Do you ever wonder why people misunderstand you or get the wrong message when you communicate?

The first reaction to miscommunication is ‘I already told them. Were they not listening?’ Yet so often they did listen but what was communicated was not clear.

When we communicate we describe what our mind perceives. The mind holds thoughts and expectations which colours our vision. We often take basic details for granted. We don’t see them and thus they are not communicated.

It is not about how much information is given, as too many words can be confusing and overloading. It is about the clarity, completeness and accuracy of what is given.

Think before you communicate, use words wisely and listen to what you say. Waste no words – each one should be necessary and valuable, leaving no room for doubt. There will be no extra, irrelevant, comments, opinions or remarks to cloud the issue.

Regular meditation acts as a refining process which brings clarity to all expressions – verbal and subtle – until it becomes the natural way of thinking and being. The more I learn to go into silence and experience peace and clarity of the mind, the more I will have the ability to communicate clearly, wisely and appropriately.

 

Om Shanti

Look Ahead

Ever wondered why we were created with eyes in the front of our head?

They are in the front so that we can look forward. We don’t need to look sideways or backwards – it takes more effort to do that.

Create a habit and a nature of always looking forward.
In the journey of life, to keep looking backwards or sideways will make us stall and possibly even fall.

Don’t keep looking back; it is no longer your concern. No need to look sideways; that is not your path. Both will add only confusion to the journey ahead.

Use the tools you have been given in life as they were meant to be used. See the road ahead.

 

Om Shanti

Spiritual Power

‘Power’ can be seen as physical strength, as mental or emotional control over others or as a unique capacity to think differently, be different.

Spiritual power, on the other hand, is subtle and so not easily visible to the eyes. It is an inner strength that enables me to protect my own inner personality. It is something that is felt and experienced rather than expressed and seen.

The ability to develop one’s own spiritual power begins in the battlefield of life.
It has become a habit to use the negative qualities of my own weakness and vices to fight the challenges in life – they have enabled me to win the outer, physical battles.

But spiritual power, which is internal, can be developed with the ability of the self to choose and use a virtue rather than a weakness or a vice in the face of challenge.

Using a virtue, over time makes it into a power. If I decide not to use my virtues then, over time, I will lose my spiritual power, my spiritual authority

Always choose to take the high path of virtue. Even if it means an apparent loss, it will make me a greater human being and it will free me from being a slave to circumstances.

 

Om Shanti

Am I Extroverted?

Extroversion has many forms and we have developed a habit of extroversion as a means of dealing with life.

When we are extroverted we try to prove or project an image of our self which we are not really inside. Living too long with this habit or interaction divorces us from our self over time.

Projecting an image of ‘being good’ is a trap that we fall into so that others will like us , love us or respect us. The long term consequence of this is that we lose our connection with our self and our authenticity. We lose the ability to be comfortable in our own skin.

By being extroverted we hide the truth from the world but, worse we also distract ourselves from having to face the truth.

There is a place inside us that goes beyond this limited ‘I’ and ‘me’. Developing the practice of introspection will allow us to connect with our authentic self – the one that needs no external supports or approvals and no facade to sustain.

Take a moment out and sit quietly. Let go of all that you know about yourself and in silence take a journey to the core of your spiritual self. Sit in the awareness and the company of your own silent and gentle, authentic self.

Develop the habit of introversion!

 

Om Shanti