Total Thoughts (April 5, 2009) - Judging Oneself

Total Thoughts:

 

Judging Oneself

• Judging others is acting like we are completely blind - we have no idea what kind of upbringing, conditions, needs, etc. one may have so who are we to judge them (i.e. a poor man could be much happier than a rich man)
• Guilt and forgiveness (within oneself) are fundamental emotions which can prevent us from growing if either is too great - we should reflect over these and seek a balance which aids our growth
• The only difference between a thought and action is the physical expression - knowing this we should nurture thoughts which help move us forward on the journey of Self realization and soon enough our goal will become Real
• We can learn through another's experience or one's own - the more aware we become the more we can learn from others and this significantly benefits our spiritual growth 
• We are quite aware of physical dangers (i.e. ice, animals, etc.) - yet we are almost completely unaware of mental dangers (i.e. negative company, harmful thoughts, etc.)
• The greatest wealth we have is peace of mind - so we should practice dissecting which thoughts pose a danger to us and give such thoughts no attention making them impotent
• The way to exhaust our vasanas (innate tendencies) is to do what we need to do (i.e. study if a student) and not what we want to do (i.e. sleep all day if a student) - by understanding the role we are supposed to play (exhausting vasanas) we will not make the mistake of trying to fit into someone else's role (create more vasanas)
• All that happens, is for a reason - we are to learn from every situation life presents to us and if we do not learn from such a situation the same message will be offered to us in another situation and on and on and on  
• Faith is needed to understand that there is a lesson to be learned in every situation - with this faith living becomes an adventure and we engage ourselves more fully in each and every situation

Remember we will not meet this Sunday for our Discussion as this is a Holiday Weekend.  We will meet the following Sunday (April 19th) not at Pritesh's place, rather at Charmaine's place (27 Birch Avenue, Toronto) and we will meet here until we break for the Summer.  This is a basement apartment and parking is available across the street.  A followup email has come from CHYK Toronto and / or check out http://www.chyktoronto.org/ .

 

' Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced. ' --- Swami Vivekananda

 

Inspire-Love-Peace

Total Thoughts (March 29, 2009) - The Role of Conscience

Total Thoughts:

 

The Role of our Conscience

• There is no real difference between the intellect and conscience - the intellect we tend to associate as a 'storehouse' (theory) and the conscience as the 'frontline' (application)
• Every night we should reflect over our actions and reactions of the expired day - by investing this time in ourselves we become more aware of our conscience and thus are better able at developing this
• Wisdom is knowledge in action - it is important to recognize what we are doing with the knowledge we acquire and whether we are actually applying this to our daily affairs
• We should practice having a calm mind - when our mind is calm we are more likely to listen to our conscience and so live ethically 
• Everyone should aspire to the ideal of being truthful in thought, word and deed - by recognizing that lying is easy and habit forming we should cease to do so for the negative impact is far reaching (i.e. the prevalence of cheating on exams, taxes, relations, etc.)
• To live by the philosophy of maximum happiness for maximum people for maximum time is to practice Oneness - Lord Rama acted as such for He only knew Oneness and so is a role model for all for all times
• Nothing is as hard as it seems - the purpose of living is to serve others and we have to have the courage to practice all the knowledge we are gaining so that we can become wise in our vision

Foundation for our upcoming Discussion:  Judging Oneself

 

Moreover, Swami Shantananda was teaching in Toronto last week and there were opportunities to offer Bhiksha.  Many people do not know what Bhiksha is and more importantly the significance behind offering Bhiksha.  So in the interest of conquering our ignorance, an explanation for you:

 

What Is Bhiksha?
 
Saint and Sages are the pillars of any society. They offer their words of wisdom according
to the times of society, expecting absolutely nothing in return. It is considered an honour and privilege
to get a chance to offer them a meal, which is called BHIKSHA.
 
It is said that the mere presence of highly evolved personalities in one's home or an institution makes the place blessed.
Bhiksha provides an ideal opportunity to meet these people in person and to have satsang at home.

 

Please also note, we will not meet for our Discussion on Sunday, April 12th as this is a Holiday Weekend. 

 

See you all this Sunday.
 
' Better a death of righteousness than the ordinary ignoble death!  It is more laudable to die for the general welfare than to expire on the comfortable bed of selfishness! ' --- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
 
Inspire-Love-Peace