Here are some wise words and advice from the Indian sage Nisargadatta Maharaj about love, fear, alienation and self-realization:

“When you know beyond all doubting that the same life flows through all that is and you are that life, you will love all naturally and spontaneously. When you realize the depth and fullness of your love of yourself, you know that every living being and the entire universe are included in your affection. But when you look at anything as separate from you, you cannot love it for you are afraid of it. Alienation causes fear and fear deepens alienation. It is a vicious circle. Only self-realization can break it.”

(An excerpt from “I am that”, talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.)

Read this paragraph again and again, and you will realize the deep truth within these words. 

Do you, like most people feel lazy sometimes? It could be just a momentary feeling of laziness, or it could be a habitual state. You might feel lazy in relation to certain particular activities, but motivated in relation to other activities.

What is laziness? It is a state of lack of energy, lack of desire and often indifference. It is sometimes caused by external conditions, such as the weather, when it is too cold or too hot, and sometimes due to internal causes, such as lack of motivation, an inclination to procrastination or fear.

Sometimes, we might find ourselves in situations, where we enjoy being lazy, such while lying in bed beneath a warm blanket on a cold day, or lying on the beach in the shade on a hot summer day, but life in general, requires that we overcome most of our laziness.

Do you wish to overcome laziness? Do you feel it is holding you back, preventing you from being active, from following your decisions, and from improving your habits and your life?

How can you overcome laziness?
By being active, instead of passive, by not procrastinating, by being aware of the importance of acting, instead of letting laziness get the upper hand.

Things don’t get done by being lazy and making no effort. Success requires activity, doing, initiative, and taking advantage of opportunities. This requires an active person, not a passive one. It requires the ability of resisting and overcoming laziness and procrastinating.

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What is a mental image? It is mental picture, scene or event that you see in your mind. You construct mental images in your mind all the time, albeit unconsciously. The mental images that you often visualize affect your life, whether you are aware of this or not. I am not talking mental images that you visualize once or twice, but about the mental images that you often repeat in your mind.

Mental images have the power to change your life. The subconscious mind accepts these images as reality, and gradually you start to believe what you imagine, act accordingly, and unconsciously work toward making them a reality in your life. This is the secret of the law of attraction creative visualization.

Mental images, if repeated often can make great changes in your life. If you visualize negative situations, difficulties and problem, and continue doing so, your moods will gradually become negative, you will alienate people, you will close your eyes to opportunities, and your self-esteem will go down. How can you achieve success if you are so negative?

On the other hand, successful people attract success, because they constantly imagine and expect success.

Mental images are like a movie or still pictures that you see in your mind. If you watch them again and again your subconscious mind will ultimately accept them as you reality. They will affect your thinking, behavior and world.

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It is a fact that most people want to be liked. Some people succeed in doing so, and others try to make a good impression, but get the opposite results.

People wish to look charismatic and become popular. It doesn’t always work out, due to low self-esteem, lack of confidence or to being too aggressive or lacking tact.

Being charismatic and easily liked are important in job interviews, in sales, dealing with people or in friendships and relationships.

Here are a few simple tips that can help you more charismatic and popular:

Posture
Pay attention to the way you carry your body. Don’t stoop, shuffle or look listless. Keep your back straight when you walk and when you sit, but don’t overdo it, otherwise it will look artificial.

Eye contact
Don’t be afraid of eye contact when talking, but don’t overdo it, as this might be interrupted as rudeness.

Talking
Don’t talk too fast or too slow and speak to the point.

Keep your voice quiet, but clear. Apart from having a relaxing influence on the people you are talking with, they will have to pay more attention to what you are saying.

Even if you don’t agree with what someone says, don’t retort in anger. Stay calm, patient and tolerant, and people will respect you more.

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If you ask people what is meditation, you will probably get different answers, such as:

• A method of relaxing the mind and body
• A concentration technique
• A relaxation technique
• A spiritual practice
• A form of contemplative practice
• An Eastern spiritual practice 
• A form of Yoga

So what is meditation? How can it be described in a few words?

Meditation is a term that refers to various methods for relaxing the body and mind, and which can ultimately lead to a state of inner peace and bliss. In it higher forms, meditation frees the mind from the subconscious compulsive habit incessant and compulsive thinking, and leads to inner peace, inner freedom, and to awareness of one’s real essence - The Inner I - The Spirit, which is above and beyond the mind. It also leads to serenity, clarity of mind and to bliss.

In meditation the attention is focused on a thought, idea, an aspect of God or on one’s awareness, and usually involves turning the attention inwards, away from the external world.

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