THE SECRET POWER OF YOUR SMILE TO UPLIFT YOURSELF and EVERYONE YOU MEET
Your smile packs a lot more power to positively affect yourself and others than you know.
THE DAWNING LIGHT—Daily Journal Of Transformational Writing
Volume 8, Issue # 844 for Thursday, March 21, 2024
SPIRITUAL SOUP KITCHEN Section # 143 Stories by Chinmayan
Photo Credit: MA Center Mata Amritanandamayi Devi “The Hugging Saint”
Top Photo Credit: Pixabay
The Secret Power of Your Smile
Your smile packs a lot more power to positively affect yourself and others than you know.
There is an ancient Chinese proverb which says “A man should not open a shop if he does not know the value of a smile.”
One of the most useful things I have learned so far in life is the secret power of knowing how to smile…in a way that lights up my face, in a way that is very loving and sincere, that is a smile of the heart and one of the most universally recognized ways of non verbal communication that anyone can understand.
When we smile with our heart as well as our face, bolts of loving energy radiate out from us to inspire and uplift others.
Photo Credit: Alme McGraw Picture of Chinmayan in 1953, age 3 years old
A sincere smile has an almost magical effect on anyone who sees it and on the one who is smiling.
A sincere smile may radiate at a million watts per second, while a smile put on simply to be courteous or make an impression has a very low wattage.
Sincerity makes the difference.
A real smile has tapped our soul’s natural ability to radiate loving, caring, nurturing energy… which is by far the most powerful positive energy in the universe.
How I Learned About The Secret Power of a Smile
I know that I first became aware of this as a young boy going to elementary school by watching the adults around me.
I observed many teachers would be walking down the hall from one class to another with a frown on their face, but when they noticed the principal or other teacher approaching, they would slap a full smile on as they passed each other, only to have it disappear back to a frown. These teachers were unhappy with their work, the school, their students and I am sure with their lives.
Anandamayi Ma One of the most realized saints of the 20th century
But then, there were other teachers who always had a smile on their faces, who walked with a bounce to their step and lit up any room they were in.
Even as a child, I knew I would much rather be in classes they were teaching, because their smiles indicated someone who cared, who was interested in others, who communicated a positive attitude toward life.
The few times I was assigned to a smiler’s class, were the years I made the most progress, because I felt safe and cared about. Their smiles encouraged me to reach for the stars.
Unfortunately, most of my teachers belonged to the scowlers crowd, which meant they believed in strict discipline, a stern way of speaking and harsh judgements.
I was always obedient because I feared them. I dreaded going to class and always sat in the back to try to avoid attracting their lightning and thunder.
A frown is simply an upside down smile that is radiating negative energy.
Photo Credit: San Francisco Zen Center Picture of Suzuki Roshi
If everyone understood the principle I am sharing with you here, which is one of the golden secrets to happiness, we would all be using it to create a much more loving world and life for ourselves.
I also learned about the secret power of a smile through battling with depression and despair for years as a young man.
I would have periods of being happy with everything about my life, and being loving and caring towards those to me with a solid optimistic attitude.
But then, sooner or later, the black clouds of despair and depression would roll in to block out my sunny disposition and I would fall into days of the most abject misery.
In that space of depression, I would become more and more irritable, hard to be around and be on a hair trigger where anything could set off my anger and rage in a second.
The old saying “Misery loves company” was unfortunately true for me when I was in the black hole of despair.
Photo Credit: Kagyu Droden Kunchab Picture of Kalu Rinpoche
After I became a disciple of Kalu Rinpoche’s, the long journey of inner healing that we all need to be on began.
It took many years of inner work for me to become free.
Through meditation I gained the ability to watch my own mind and to be aware of the consequences of believing my negative thoughts. I realized it was me who drove those I loved away by the hurtful things things I said and did while in dark states.
One of the most powerful tools to mastering our mental, emotional and spiritual is learning how to use the power of our own smile.
I am now completely free of even the shadow of depression.
I am able to master the states I am in, as I have learned to be aware of the creeping beginnings of depression, to modulate them, and even if I do fall down into it briefly, I now have the inner resources, skills and tools to rapidly pull myself up out of it.
One of those powerful tools is using the secret power of our smile.
I now constantly check myself to see…am I smiling or frowning?
If my smile has slipped away, I consciously bring it back and raise the amperage…and am always immediately uplifted, feel happier, clearer mentally and much more aware and able to be present with myself or others.
Wherever I go during my day, I make sure it is with a bright, sincere smile.
I never leave home with a scowl, which I know only brings folks who meet me down.
Instead, I go forward knowing that my smile is a gift to anyone who sees it.
Out of over 10,000 facial expressions available to humans, our ability to smiles in a few hundred ways is by far the most powerful.
It is important to know that as we have evolved into human beings, we developed 43 different muscles in our faces which make it possible to have over 10, 000 different distinct facial expressions for communicating non verbally.
Kalu Rinpoche Yangtsi, the reincarnation of Kalu Rinpoche
There are hundreds of ways to smile, and all of them have a powerful emotional affect on you and everyone who receives your smile.
The reason is this…every action we take with our bodies, mind and speech produces either positive or negative results. Whatever you radiate out into the universe through action, always returns to you multiplied in power and vibration.
Try it right now, and you will see what I mean. Consciously put on a smile and raise the amperage…Do you notice how it immediately improves your mood?
Your smile is so powerful it can save lives! I know of five times someone was saved from suicide by a simple smile.
Your smile is one of the best ways to help yourself to be happier and more loving.
Your smile encourages and helps others feel good about themselves. It makes others feel appreciated, seen and acknowledged.
Your smile is like being a light house for someone having a stormy day…so shine on, my friend!
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The16th Karmapa was always smiling blissfully!
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“Your greatest service to humanity is to attain your own Self Realization!” Ramana Maharshi
“When you change the way you think about things, and the things you think about change”
—Wayne Dyer
“I see my life as an unfolding set of opportunities to awaken.” —Ram Das
“When God is the center and focus of my life, everything else falls into it’s rightful place.”
—Chinmayan
Meanwhile, may this be one of the most wonderful and amazing days of your life!