A Wisdom Archive on Self-control

Upeksha (Sanskrit). Lit., Renunciation. In Yoga a state of absolute indifference attained by self-control, the complete mastery over one’s mental and physical feelings and sensations.

 
(See also: Upeksha, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,  )

Samadhi (Sanskrit). A state of ecstatic and complete trance. The term comes from the words Sam-adha, "self-possession ". He who possesses this power is able to exercise an absolute control over all his faculties, physical or mental; it is the highest state of Yoga.

 
(See also: Samadhi, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,  )

Yogi (Sanskrit).
(1) Not "a state of six-fold bodily and mental happiness as the result, of ecstatic meditation" (Eitel) but a state which, when reached, makes the practitioner thereof absolute master of his six principles", he now being merged in the seventh. It gives him full control, owing to his knowledge of SELF and Self, over his bodily, intellectual and mental states, which, unable any longer to interfere with, or act upon, his Higher Ego, leave it free to exist in its original, pure, and divine state.
 
 
(2) Also the name of the devotee who practises Yoga.

 
(See also: Yogi, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,  )

The Brahmakumaris practise Raja Yoga, particularly the trataka form of meditation in order to achieve union with God. It involves keeping your eyes open and fixing your gaze on a tiny red spot with total attention. Raja Yoga gives knowledge of self and enables one to attain peace, purity and harmony.
 
Dawn is preceded by the darkest hour of the night. The Brahmakumaris consider the present time as the most critical period. This will be followed by a new age - the dawn in the great cycle of time. The agent of transition may be the person possessing knowledge of the true self, of a positive soul. One who reaches the highest stage of this knowledge becomes Brahma. The supreme divine being is Shiva, who is an embodiment of knowledge, peace, purity and harmony.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Darkness Before Dawn In Cycle of Yugas

The ultimate solution to all problems - ecological, social and personal - lies within you. However, when you embark on that spiritual journey to go within, you will find that the solution is not sitting there, waiting to be discovered.
 
It is hidden away, made almost inaccessible, under the many-layered maya or illusion, that keeps you mired in ignorance. The spirit, obscured by this many-layered veil, is unable to reflect and know the nature of its true self.
 
 

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Getting In Touch With Yourself

I've nursed a deep desire since childhood to see truth, face-to-face. I knew that truth would remain elusive unless I learnt to recognise the true nature of my own self and the world around me. But bookish knowledge did not take me any closer to this goal. Knowledge derived with the help of the senses is not entirely dependable, for our senses can deceive us.
 
Restless, I read the biographies of Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Ramakrishna, Mirabai, Mahatma Gandhi and others. Inspired, I tried to acquire qualities that could elevate me to a higher position. But it was not easy; I was young and passions and desires had me in their grip.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Eternal Game of Hide-and-Seek

Once upon a time, a musk deer went searching for musk. Round and round the forest she went, month after month, quite unaware that the heady fragrance, so desperately sought by her, lay beneath her own belly button. Many times, we humans, too, behave like the musk deer. We search for self-realisation outside, blissfully unaware that it lies within us, all the while untapped.
 
To experience this bliss, however, the seeker has to put in a different sort of effort with regularity and devotion. One way lies through the world of forms, through the path of bhakti, where the seeker concentrates on any of the manifest forms of the Ultimate.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: The Ideal Way to Get Close to God - Bhakti

Tai Chi Chuan is one way of working towards harmonising our energies both internally and externally so that we live in tune with nature. Because the movements of Tai Chi Chuan are slow and meditative, they put us indirect contact with nature.
 
Tai Chi Chuan not only provides a foundation for self-defence, but also teaches principles of harmonious action. Being in harmony requires flexibility in thought and the ability to release an idea free from the ego.
 
Tai Chi Chuan emphasises becoming aware of the inter-relationship of all the parts of one'sbody - both with one another and with the environment and moving these parts harmoniously under the direction of the mind. To be able to do this, special training is required.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Bring Harmony in to Your Life - Tai Chi Chuan

Who is a good human being? Charles Dickens said people were good and bad. But he couldn"t figure out what made them that way. Unfortunately, Dickens missed - by about 50 years - the revolution in psychology brought about by Sigmund Freud.
 
Freud believed an individual'spersonality was shaped in his infancy, with later influences having only a negligible impact. However, Freud erred in focusing on natural instincts to the exclusion of social structures.
 

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Goodness, a Lighter State of Being

To be born a human being with the unique faculties of discrimination and choice is both a great blessing and a terrible curse. This is because exercising one's choice often creates conflicts.
 
One can neither live with conflict nor solve conflict through suppression or desensitising the mind temporarily - the conflicts simply resurface. So it seems that there is no permanent solution to conflict, and hence in this matter we are left with no choice. But should we give up so easily? Don't we deserve to be free from conflict?
 
 

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Krishna's Advice for Resolving Conflict

Morality is neither an abstraction nor many-complexioned. There cannot be different sets of morality for politicians, business persons and bureaucrats. If such a difference is being accepted by most of us today, it is because we have been indifferent to the progressive deterioration of moral and ethical standards in the social order over the last half century.
 
Any moral code has to be applicable to all. "I never did, or countenanced, in public life", said Jefferson, "a single act inconsistent with the strictest good faith, having never believed there was one code of morality for a public and another for a private man".

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: The Core Values of Humanity

Technologically we live in a borderless world. In reality, however, we exist in compartments, separated by walls of caste, religion and geography. We acknowledge the information explosion as being a great achievement and take pride in describing ourselves as a knowledge-based society. Snowed under as we are with mounds of information, we are facing a paradox - we find that ignorance levels are growing as well. The rate at which we are accumulating information is not commensurate with the rate at which our awareness is growing.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Peace or Violence, Make Your Choice