Subject : Nurturing Relationships
Speaker : Sister Shivani
Date : 21-12-2011
‘Brahma Kumari’ Shivani addressed the members of the Society and public at large on the subject ‘Nurturing Relationships’ on 21st December, 2011 at K. C. College, Churchgate. She presented her in-depth understanding of the human psychology and relationships.
The speaker started the meeting with a two-minute silence. During that silence she made the audience concentrate on those relationships which are experiencing a tough time. This was something unique on her part which made the audience think.
Then she asked the audience their opinions on why relationships are spoilt. She took the responses of the audience and analysed those responses. It was a very interactive session in that sense.
She got varied responses from the audience. anger, ego, jealousy, hypocrisy, age difference, generation gap, frustration, boredom, etc. are some of the reasons. She came to each of them one after the other. One of the important things that she stressed upon is that the problem is created by only one factor, rest are all chained. If you break the first one, the rest will automatically be broken. She clarified that if we learn to accept things and people around us as they are, without trying to make modifications in them, then our relationships will never be spoilt. In a nutshell we should not expect anything from anyone. If expectations break, then that chain will start to pop up.
To illustrate, if we accept people as they are and do not expect them to behave according to our expectations, then we will not be angry with them, because their actions will not have any power to disturb our mental state. If anger is not there, then ego automatically gets cancelled out. If there is no ego, then jealousy does not come into the picture! Similarly, hypocrisy, age difference, boredom, etc. will all be rendered powerless to create strain in our relationships if we apply the above golden principle in our day-to-day life.
Sister Shivani enlightened everyone that we should have respect for the other soul. The basic problem associated with everyone is that people are always quick to react! We should always learn to respect other people’s acts rather than reacting on them. This will create a win-win situation for us. It will not disturb our mental peace and at the same time our relationships will not get spoiled.
She then explained to the audience that relationships are always maintained by ‘thoughts’ and ‘thinking’. ‘Actions’ play a very minor role in nurturing relationships. In fact, it is well accepted that our actions are guided by our thinking only! So to maintain good relationships we need to always think positive. Our thoughts will determine our relationships. Further, she mentioned that all the negative feelings like anger, ego, hatred, jealousy, etc. pollute our soul, and hence one should keep away from them. She acknowledged that it is not easy and one can always take the help of meditation. Meditation can help one to be nearer to the Almighty. It can give eternal peace and satisfaction.
To conclude, let the relation be of any nature – brother-sister, husband-wife, parent-child and professional-client, but acceptance is the key for successful relations. Accept and do not expect!
Sister Shivani concluded her beautiful session after taking a promise from everyone that they will try to mend their relationships and nurture them. The softness and beauty of her speech was very well acknowledged and appreciated by the audience, which was in large numbers.
