EXECUTING RIGHT HABITS CONSISTENTLY.

As the saying goes - First we make our habits. And then our habits make us. Most of us create great habits but we are not great at sustaining them until they are ingrained into our lifestyle. With any activity or habit, we need to take those tiny actions, beginning from our thoughts, until they become a consistent part of our personality. Have you created a new habit which has been truly beneficial, but found it hard to sustain? Have you given up a healthy habit because you could not reinforce it, or because someone else said it's difficult to stick with ? Give yourself some time to embrace it. Any habit needs a few days of consistent, daily repetition before it becomes automatic. Till then we need to keep practicing it, even if we had failed to sustain a habit in the past, or if people feel that a particular habit is difficult to keep up. Focus on establishing one healthy habit, understand why you need it, and make it a priority to practice it for 20 consecutive days, regardless of your schedule or situation. Every day, create an affirmation for it and visualise as if it is already integrated into your routine. This makes it easier to adopt the new habit into your lifestyle. Carrying out a healthy habit is its own reward. In addition, it increases will power, health and happiness and make your relationships better and bring you success at work. Establishing a fixed routine with living your habits, increases your self-control. Start inculcating the discipline to build good habits that support your personal growth - right thinking, attitude, beliefs, exercises, meditation, spiritual study, diet, rest, sleep, work ethics, social habits and so on. Consistently create thoughts only of what you want your reality to be. Your thoughts create the right attitude and right actions and all those actions become a part of your personality. By thinking about them and bringing them into action, you strengthen your habits. Add them to your routine, they are your priority, they are part of your daily plan. Eve if you skip any of your routine activities for any reason, do not criticise yourself and do not give up. Motivate yourself, get back to executing the habit and tell yourself you can and you will. Make sticking to healthy habits the easiest thing to do for yourself. 

[Courtesy: Positive Reflections by Brahmakumaris dated 18th February, 2020 (Tuesday)].

-Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 18th February, 2020 (Tuesday)-

----------------------------------------------------------------    

START INFLUENCING, STOP CONTROLLING.

Whenever we complain about someone not being our way, we essentially imply that if we could control them, we could have guaranteed right results. The truth is we cannot control anyone, but we can influence literally everyone. Control radiates dominance, influence radiates care. Do you live with or work with someone who uses control tactics to change you? Have you also met people who have inspired you to change, just by being who they are? Let us accept that people will not be our way. Maybe they see nothing wrong with themselves, or they disagree with us, or they don't want to change. Exerting control or pressurising people to change their habits or behaviours is never a solution. If we do that, people repel us, leaving no chance for them to listen to us. Our sphere of control owing to position, seniority or role is limited. But our sphere of influence through our personality is infinite. When we consistently live the right way and when we consistently bless them instead of feeling irritated about them, our vibrations radiate to them. Our pure energy empowers and influences them to change. Start connecting with people with acceptance and respect for who they are. Remind yourself daily - I am a powerful being. People can be their way. I remain my way, the right way and influence them. Letting people be their way, I influence their habits and behaviours with my perfection and pure intention.

Look to control yourself and influence others. Bring your cheerful energy into every interaction. Listen to others, intuitively understand others, highlight their potential, give them a sense of purpose, guide them to achieve their goals. Being naturally motivated and wise, inspire everyone to bring out their best, appreciate and celbrate their success. Even if they fail to listen to you or fail to achieve, guide them and encourage them to try again. Lead by example. If someone is not your way, do not get disturbed. Empathise and influence them with your stability and unconditional acceptance. 

[Positive Reflections by Brahma Kumaris dated 11th February, 2020]. 

-Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 15th February, 2020 (Saturday)- 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

BEING STABLE IN CRITICISM.

Regardless of the form it takes and the intentions behind it, criticism can be difficult to accept. But if we learn how to deal with it, we can certainly benefit from the feedback. A large part of criticism directed towards us is not in our control, but how we respond to it is always our choice. No matter who you are or what you do, does someone always judge you? Even if things seem to be going well, do you find people criticising your ideas, behaviours, talents, efforts or results? Like it or not, criticism is unavoidable so it helps to take it in our stride. We need to be stable in the face of criticism. It usually comes with an energy of anger, insult, disrespect or rejection. So, more than the feedback itself, the accompanying vibrations hit us hard. Yet, we have the choice to only accept the feedback and be untouched by the negative vibrations accompanying it. People's criticism is more about them than about us. It mirrors weak state of mind - their hurt, their worries, their insecurities and their personalities. Basically, they are in pain and are relaying it to us. Our role is to understand, empathise and not radiate negative energy back to them. You have the power to make things better or worse when critiicised. Be courteous to them, validate their words and improve yourself if needed. Otherwise release that scene from your mind. Remain stable in criticism, just as you remain stable in appreciation. Know yourself well and do not get disturbed when someone criticises you. Sometimes when sharing their feedback, people are rude, they criticise you. Pause and think through the criticism, check if it is valid. If yes, thank them and improve yourself. If not, let go, do not create any thoughts about what they say. Remain stable and don't react or argue or defend. Just state your views assertively. Understand they might be disturbed, jealous or insecure. Understand they are different, they are only expressing their opinion, which is based on their personality. Know your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Do not take criticism personally. Remain detached as you see their nature. 

[Positive Reflections by Brahma Kumaris, dated 15-02-2020 (Saturday)]. 

-Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 15th February, 2020 (Saturday)-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

JIHAD: A TOOL OF PEACE.

One of the meanings of Islam  is peace, a permanently desired state of harmony with all that exists on the planet. Islam classifies Jihad, which literally means, "to strive" - into jihad-e-asghar, smaller battle, against evil and jihad-e-akbar larger battle, against the nafs, one's own ego. When people submit to evil, they become a source of danger to society. To ensure peace and security, these forces have to be defeated. The Quran verses sanctioning a military jihad were revealed to the Prophet after 13 years of passive resistance. During this long period, he and his followers were subjected to torture, injustice and severe oppression. Eventually, the Muslims were allowed an armed struggle. The Prophet stressed that jihad could not be pursued for economic gain, personal honour or the propagation of narrow nationalism. Laying down battle rules, he said, "Do not slay women or children or non-combatants and do not harm old people or religious people". The Prophet specifically mentioned priests, nuns and rabbis who serve God in houses of worship. He forbade the mutilation of bodies, cutting down of trees and poisoning of wells. He prohibited the burning of houses and cornfields, and the killing of livestock - except for food. The Prophet established an exemplary code of conduct for the Prisoners of War. He said, "Mercy is not taken out of anyone but the damned". The Quran urges not to let the hatred of people prevent you from being just.

Given the non-violent resistance during the founding years of Islam in Mecca, there is a rich resource of material on non-violence in the Quran and Hadith literature. The Quran speaks about the centrality of non-coercion and God's infinite compassion. Just 26 of over 6,000 verses deal directly with combat contexts with specific conditions and restraints. Some battles took place during the last 10 years of the Prophet's life. These resulted in uniting the Arab tribes who were constantly at war with each other. It is important to remember that during this period, the sword was used under the laws of the constitution of Medina and not to establish the law. While returning from the battlefield of Badr, the first armed conflict, the Prophet defined the two faces of Jihad, "We are returning from the lesser battle to the greater battle against ourselves". On another occasion, he said, "The most excellent Jihad is to speak up for the truth in the face of a tyrannical authority". According to Islam, there can be no compulsion in matters of faith. The Quran clearly states, "No coercion in religion. Distinct has now become the right way from the way of wrong; hence who rejects falsehood and has faith in God has held on to the tightest knot that could not be undone. God is all-hearing, all-knowing".

[Based on an article written by Sadia Dehlvi, a Delhi based writer and author of 'Sufism: The Heart of Islam'. The article was published in Deccan Chronicle dated 22nd April, 2017 (Saturday)]. 

-Challpalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 15th February, 2020 (Saturday)- 

---------------------------------------------------------

WHY NOT WRESTLE WITH GOD LIKE JACOB AND ARJUNA?

Most of us think that we must approach God only with purity of heart and integrity of mind. In situations of doubt or depression we hide from God, thinking it's impossible to get a darshan of divinity. However, situations of difficulty and doubt are often ideal for God to intervene in order to confront, and consequently console. Religious stories often describe human beings wrestling with God. In the Bible, Jacob is portrayed as wrestling with a divine being (Genesis 32:22-32). The setting of the story is significant. Jacob has deceived his elder brother, Esau, by robbing him off his birth-right and his father's blessings. Years later, Jacob repents and returns to his homeland with fear that his brother will seek vengeance. As Jacob returns towards Esau's house, he's told that his brother is advancing towards him with many men. Frightened, Jacob prays to God: "Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all". Jacob then spends the night in a camp. That night, "a man wrestled with Jacob until daybreak". Nothing is known about the mysterious wrestler. That he came at night suggests suddenness; that he wanted to depart before daybreak shows unwillingness to be recognised. The result of this unexpected wrestling bout is fourfold: first, the man wrenches Jacob's hip at the sciatic muscle; second, Jacob refuses to let the man go until he blesses him; third, the wrestler changes Jacob's name to 'Israel'; fourth, Jacob calls the place 'Peni-el' - Hebrew, meaning 'face of God' - saying, "I have seen God face-to-face". When God changes someone's name, that person is given a new identity and fresh purpose in life. The name 'Israel' - from the Hebrew, sarah, meaning, struggle - indicates that God is pleased with Jacob's struggle. Yet, Jacob does not escape unscathed, for now, although he receives God's blessings, he walks with a lamp! The story of Jacob and Esau not only forgives his brother, but heaps wonderful gifts upon him.
Similar to the Jacob wrestling narrative, the classical Hindu tradition has an ancient Sanskrit poem entitled 'Kiratarjuniya' by Bhairavi, which describes an episode of the Mahabharata wherein Arjuna combats Shiva disguised as a Kiraata or tribal hunter. So pleased was Shiva with Arjuna's bravery, that he gives him the powerful weapon, Pashupatastra, which aids Arjuna against the Kauravas during the Kurukshetra war. Jacob's and Arjuna's struggles with God have some elements in common: first, it is God who takes the initiative to encounter them; second, both do not recognise the Divine in their struggles; third, their grappling with God seems to bring benefits and blessings; fourth, it is the Divine One who makes the struggle successful and a new awareness of God is achieved. Like Jacob and Arjuna, why not wrestle with God? There is always an inner struggle in trying to fathom 'who' or 'what' God is. Moreover, mystics often experience heart-burn or heart-break when away from the presence of their Beloved God. Furthermore, we wrestle with God when we ask questions of ultimate meaning. We all yearn for Truth and can never be content with lies. Jacob was forced to face his deception, and after grappling with God, he made peace with his brother, Esau, whom he had wronged. It's not only the onus of believers to grapple with God. If they are genuine seekers, atheists and agnostics, too, must grapple with God - rather, without God - for scepticism and science haven't provided satisfactory answers about our origin and destiny.
[Courtesy: Francis Gonsalves, The article was published in The Times of India dated 25th April, 2017 (Tuesday)].
-Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 15th February, 2020 (Saturday)-
---------------------------------------------------------

ACCEPT CHANGE, DON'T RESIST IT.

Change resistance or the inability to adapt to change is the most common reason for the life stresses that all of us are faced with. There used to be a time when change was not so sudden as it is now. The modern lifestyles have made change so sudden that we have reached a point where change resistance has almost become like a syndrome or illness. There was once a businessman, who was very successful in everything he did. He earned success in his profession, relationships, earning wealth and everything else. It was all great going until one day his company began to go into a loss. At the same time, his relations with his family began to get disturbed, because of this. As a result, his self-esteem began to fall. Life was not the same again for him. This can happen to any of us, a sudden change of fortunes. Suddenly one single negative event, only a single change, can change our lives. What should have the businessman have done, to remain positive? He became, from extremely successful to unsuccessful. A change of perception you would say. And here we also throw light on the golden principle of acceptance. Acceptance follows the change of perception and also cannot take place without the perception change. It is an opposite emotion than the one which we commonly experience - that of resistance, when faced with a difficult situation. 

Taking the message further from the above example of a businessman who resisted change, accepting a difficult situation wasn't easy in his case. This is a case of a person who benefitted from the teachings of the Brahma Kumaris. He was given a five point spiritual power formula to implement. The five powers helped him re-shape his perception into a positive one. As a result he accepted a difficult situation. The first power was the power to transform one's thoughts as per one's own desires using the power of meditation. Rajyoga meditation, as taught by the Brahma Kumaris, is a connection between two minds - your own mind and the Supreme source of spiritual power - God. He is invisible to the physical eyes but visible to the eye of spiritual wisdom or what we call third eye. This connection causes spiritual energy in its purest form to be absorbed from God. It flows into one's sanskaras and changes the sanskara of thinking negatively. The second power was the power to discriminate between negative and positive information that one is exposed to throughout the day. Very often a negative piece of information received from the daily newspaper can make the perception of a negative situation full of confusion and a lack of clarity. This can cause us to become emotionally weakened. So, the businessman was given a simple advice - read the newspaper in the afternoon or evening and not the first thing in the morning. At that time, the mind is not so fresh and the absorption capability of the sub-conscious mind is lower than what it is during the morning. 

With reference to the above, the third power shared by the Brahma Kumaris to the businessman was the power to let go of all the memories of past negative events. He was advised to take out time to indulge in pure service - shatre all that he had learnt at the Brahma Kumaris with one person everyday. He made a principle of his life called Each One Teach One Each Day. This became his hobby. All the past negative incidents that were reducing his ability to perceive positively a negative situation and accepting it were pushed back and forgotten. he became a new person, from one with a negative past to one with a fresh mind eager to fill new positive experiences in itself. This would help him in crossing an uncertain present and constructing a positive future. Also, another power to achieve success in the change of perception and then accept was the power to think correctly based on beliefs based on spiritual truths. For example, the belief - I will be unable to emerge victorious over this negative event in my life was replaced by - Every negative situation is a blessing to achieve significant transformation in the self. These spiritual truths were a part of the complete spirityual knowledge of the Brahma Kumaris which is in the form of a week-long, an hour per day, introductory study course. This course was undertaken by the businessman. The last power was the power of an everyday morning input of holistic and pure knowledge after the week-long introductory course was undertaken. This was taken at the centre of the Brahma Kumaris, which as discussed earlier, went a long way in creating a positive environment inside his mind. It was an environment full of positive perceptions. As a result, negative circumstances became easy to face. 

[Courtesy: Brahma Kumaris Positive Reflections

[Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 14th February, 2020 (Friday)].  

--------------------------------------------------------  

AZAAN: CALLING THE FAITHFUL TO PRAYER.

"Kaankar-paathar jori ke masjid lah chunnai/Ta chadni mulla baang de kya bahira huaKhudai?" - A mosque is built with stones and pebbles. A cleric from there calls; Is God hard of hearing? This is an oft-quoted doha (couplet) attributed to Kabir. But the great social reformer azaan - a call for Islamic prayer was invoking God or praying to the Almighty, despite his being a brilliant observer of social and religious aberrations and anomalies. Azaan is a call for prayer: The rauazzin (Arabic for the caller) calls the faithful to the mosque for offering namaz. Hazrat Mohani says, "Ek awaaz se bulaya daata ke darbar mein / Sawaab se hi milti hai ye gismat". Just one call can make devout followers rush to the mosque / Only great piety creates such sublime fate, the caller is imbued with. Here lies the relevance of irrelevance of azaan. Young Professor Hamilton Gibb wrote a letter to Allama Iqbal in Arabic. This letter can still be read at Lahore University's Department of Islamic Theology. Gibb asked Iqbal, "Shouldn't the faithful and devout Muslims come on their own to offer namaz to Allah? Why should they be called when it's their fundamental duty? This is like a shepherd calling his sheep when it's time to go back home in the evening. Human Beings aren't sheep". Iqbal wrote back with a Hadis (not Hadith as it is erroneously spelt by most: the compilation of Prophet Muhammad's teachings), though Imam Bukhari didn't mention his Hadis. Hadis Qudsi and Abu Dawud did mention this. Iqbal wrote to Gibb, quoting the Hadis that Prophet Muhammad said to Bilal - Islam's first muazzin, who was a slave from North Africa, freed by the Prophet - "Bilal, neo-Muslims need to be called to get accustomed to the new-found ways of Islam from their Pagan beliefs. But as they will evolve, they will come on their own. There might not be any calling in future because faith is a matter of heart and one listens to his inner voice when it comes to worship".

An evolved Muslim or any evolved worshipper needs no azaan or a call for prayer. Hakim Sanai writes in Persian, "Footsteps carry you to the mosque well before the muazzin gets ready to call you. Eventually, he gives up happily, seeing you there before he calls". So the issue of using loudspeakers or any modern technological equipment to call for prayer, gets redundant because elsewhere Prophet Muhammad himself opines that azaan should be so musical that it shouldn't break the slumber of others. During Prophet Muhammad's time, everyone didn't accept Islam and there were Christians and Jews in the vicinity. Moreover, Islam puts an accent on musicality of prayers and prayer related aspects. That's why Qeerat (why to recite the Quranic verses and there are seven ways of reciting them; Egyptian Qeerat being the most mellifluous) is so euphonic and when you get to hear the recital of Quranic verses, you are moved beyond words. Even a hardcore atheist like yours truly is moved by the musical cadences of Quranic creation. So it's really incongruous to use loudspeakers to call the faithful to the mosques. The problem with the followers of all religions is that they have not understood the symbolism and archaic practices of their faiths and they still cling on to them obstinately.

[Courtesy: An article written by Sumit Paul, published in The Times of India dated 21st April, 2017 (Friday)].  

Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 11th February, 2020 (Tuesday).

---------------------------------------------------------

I HAVE A DREAM.

I have a dream, a song to sing, to help me cope with anything...go the lyrics of a famous song by ABBA. It is not surprising that all of us are fascinated by our dreams. After all, we spend one-third of our lives sleeping or rather, we are in the world of dreams. From a scientific perspective, our dreams are made up of a combination of thoughts, images and emotions. The majority of our dreams are thought out during our Rapid Eye Movement stage. However, metaphysically speaking, dreams are a way of communicating with our soul, our spirit or our higher consciousness. It is said that many great discoveries or pieces of literature have been inspired by dreams. Friedrich Kekule, who gave the world the structure of benzene, had actually seen the structure in his dream, where he saw a snake eating its own tail. The US President, Abraham LKincoln had a premonitory dream about his death just before he was assassinated. Numerous people have been trying to analyse and find meaning in their dreams. In fact, there are some common symbols that most people see in their dreams. Many people dream about being abducted. It actually indicates that you are being manipulated by someone in your life. To see a baby in a dream signifies new beginnings. Driving a car means you are taking control of your life and working towards fulfilling your ambition. Many people dream that they are being chased. This dream represents insecurity or might signify that you are trying to evade a certain situation in life. If you dream that your teeth are broken, it refers to the consequences of your words and/or what you say about others. 

My dear readers, I wish that you pay attention to your dreams as they represent your feelings, moods, memories or messages from your masters. Oscar Wilde had opined, "Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world". Dreams give you the power to fine-tune your sixth sense and might even be pre-cognitive in nature.

TRUST IN DREAMS, FOR IN THEM IS HIDDEN THE GATE TO ETERNITY. (Kahlil Gibran).

Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 11th, February, 2020 (Tuesday).  

-------------------------------------------------------