A message of Prosperity and Peace for New Year 2010
|
| A message of Prosperity and Peace for New Year 2010 |
ach New Year, we wish others happiness and prosperity. What is the sign of prosperity? There are several - a smile, contentment, freedom, the willingness to share, fearlessness and the trust and confidence that you will get what you need in life. In the New Year everyone comes up with one resolution which they hope to carry forward. They somehow go through a month, but come March, it’s all forgotten and the bad habits are back to being a topic of dinner conversation. Each year resolutions are made only to be broken even though the spirit is willing, daily pressures and circumstances make it difficult for people to adhere to them. Let me take a look at the ones that are loaded with good intentions... The last two days of the year are always a little heavy for me. Looking back, I can’t help but feel ‘this will never come back again in my life’. Now whether ‘this’ was a good one or not-so-good is another story, but yes I do feel, like many countless others, that this year I will endeavour to be a better person – change that one irritating trait of mine or take on a brand new ‘good habit’. The Oxford dictionary defines the word ‘resolution’ as a firm determination to carry out a thought. It is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. Let 2010 be different! Set a precedent and ensure you and your children, if any, make a resolution and stick by it. Welcome the New Year with a genuine smile. At Shri Ram Mandir as usual we publish a large quantity of beautiful detailed calendars each year and distribute the same to our devotees, which is filled with important Hindu events both in English and Hindi. There are many photographs of Gods, to whom we all pray every day. As you flip the calendar, keep flipping your mind as well. Don’t fill your future dates with past events. Learn and unlearn from the past, and move on. You want to be free of greed, hatred, jealousy and all such imperfections. Understand that negative emotions are due to the past. Do not let the past affect your life in the present. If you cannot forgive the past, then your future will be miserable. This New Year make up with someone with whom you are not on good terms with. Start life afresh. In the New Year wish peace and prosperity for all. Do selfless service. Live your life well. Realise that your priority is to check violence in the world, free of domestic and societal violence. Make a resolution to do more good, help people in need and bring solace to those suffering. Whenever you are useful to people, merit will never be lost. Any good gesture or action of yours will always come back to you. Today you have the whole world for a family. That’s what you need to feel, that everybody is part of your own family. Take responsibility. Then there is no suffering. Murphy's Law says that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Every time we solve one problem, a new one springs up. We may be struggling financially, trying to make ends meet. A day finally comes when we get a raise, and then we find our car has broken down, and the extra money has to go for repairs or for new car payments. When we settle that problem, someone in our family may fall ill. Along with that, we may find that we have a problem in our relationship with one of our colleagues. While that is being straightened out, something else goes wrong and so the cycle continues. Maybe no one is free of problems, but the least we can do is to ensure that we don't fret and worry about them. The pressures of life are so great that they affect us physically and mentally. The solution is not to let out our anger by fighting back or running away. Those reactions can create more problems for us in our relationships. We need to find some acceptable way to defuse tensions. Meditation is one way to counter stress as it is a process by which we could experience higher, spiritual realms. The meditation process aids us at two levels. First, it helps us by bringing about physical relaxation. Second, it puts us in a state where we are absorbed in an enjoyable, blissful experience, and become oblivious to the problems of the outer world. The spiritual dimension of life brings a great sense of belongingness, responsibility, compassion and caring for the whole world, for all life. In its truest form spirituality helps us overcome narrow boundaries of caste, creed, religion and nationality and give you a broader awareness of life everywhere. Open your eyes and see how much you have been given. Focus on what you have rather than what you don’t have. The more grateful you are, the more will be given to you. Conversely, the more you complain, the more will be taken away from you. With gratitude, reach out and help those who are less endowed. Every year at Shri Ram Mandir we collect food, which is distributed through various organisations to less privileged ones. Participate in this event wholeheartedly. You will receive contentment when you serve selflessly. Then you realise that your problems aren’t so big after all. The biggest reason for mental depression is the constant refrain of the mind that says, “What about me?” This is a sign of lack of prosperity. Become free like a bird. Open your wings and learn to fly. This is something you have to experience within yourself. If you think you are in bondage, you will remain bound here. Be free. When will you experience freedom? After you die? Become free right now. Sit down and become content. Spend some time in meditation, satsang and prayers. At Shri Ram Mandir we have regular classes on meditation every Saturday for seniors and on Sundays for the general public. A study- research conducted by a team at University of California, Los Angeles scanned the brains of people who meditate and found that certain regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger than in a similar control group. Satsangs are also held quite regularly at Shri Ram Mandir. Monthly events published by us gives you updated information on Satsangs, Chowkies etc. By participating regularly in satsangs, this not only calms your mind, your inner self becomes strong enough to deal with challenges. Satsang and spiritual books have the power to turn our minds towards good thoughts. Spiritual gurus say, you must pray regularly with your closed eyes. The intention of closed eyes during prayer is to quiet the mind whereas placing two hands together during prayer is to quiet the physical body's activities. When the mind and hands are silenced, the spirit is allowed a more focused communication with a place of knowing. This knowing place may be called God, higher self, nature, or whatever term you like. Prayer may include specific forms like praise, requesting guidance or assistance, confessing sins, as an act of reparation or an expression of one's thoughts and emotions. Praying can be done in public, as a group, or in private. The words used in prayer may take the form of intercession, a hymn, incantation, words of gratitude, or a spontaneous utterance in the person's praying words. When the mind relaxes, the intellect becomes sharp. When the mind is loaded with ambitions and feverish desires, then the intellect loses its keenness. When intellect and observation are not sharp, life does not express itself fully. Ideas don’t flow properly and abilities diminish day by day. With this understanding, you step out of your narrow confines and that will solve many of the problems in your life. When you are centred, there is happiness always. With this calmness, talents arise naturally. Intuition comes, beauty comes, peace comes; love springs up and prosperity comes. Wish you a Happy New year |
|
*Kanayalal Raina is a Brampton based writer who contributes regularly to various Canadian publications. He is working as Executive Director at Canada Hindu Heritage Centre in Canada. An automobile Engineer and MBA (Mktg) by profession he is providing consultancy on Project Management, Financing and Marketing. |
|
|
| Copyrights ? 2007 Shehjar online and KashmirGroup.com .Any content, including but not limited to text, software, music, sound,photographs, video, graphics or other material contained may not bemodified, copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, ordistributed in any form or context without written permission. Terms & Conditions. |