Many years ago, I heard a talk given by my spiritual Master, Kamlesh Patel, which was titled, ‘Be Contagious’. He is a man of few words but the essence of what He says has the depth of an ocean. I need to dive deep into my conscious to grasp, imbibe some pearls of wisdom from the talk.
Until that day, the word contagious always had a negative connotation for me. Medically, if we have a contagious infection, you are as good as dead to one and all. Even family members are reluctant to be seen with you. Master wanted us Heartfulness practitioners to be contagious, and it was not sitting well with me.
My mind was prejudiced and conditioned, hardwired to think a certain way, give predefined meanings to harmless words. Once an impression was formed, the unbecoming images remained embedded, refusing to leave.
Research has shown that across a wide array of psychological events, people tend to focus more on the negative as they try to make sense of the world. We tend to...
• Pay more attention to negative events than positive ones.
• Learn more from negative outcomes and experiences.
• Make decisions based on negative information more than positive data.
It is the “bad things” that grab our attention, stick to our memories, and, in many cases, influence the decisions that we make. It is the “bad things” that grab our attention, stick to our memories, and, in many cases, influence the decisions that we make.
My thinking could not think of being contagious in a positive light. To be such an ambassador of Sahaj Marg which drew people to you. Your being and way of life is contagious, luring one and all to enquire, find out about your way of life. Contagious with positivity, humility, joy, compassion…
And I was thinking of ways and means how I could change myself, my thinking, my habits, my lifestyle such that I could be contagious, the way He wanted a Sahaj Margi to be. So subtly He brought a change in me, my thinking. Which habits of mine was I passing on? If negative thinking is so easy to pass on, I wondered if I had the potential to be contagiously positive, be contagious with joy, humility, compassion?
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