CHEERS TO A NEW YEAR

Let us enter the New with alertness, self-confidence and love, says MATA AMRITANANDAMAYIWe enter 2022 with a prayer in our heart that we may be able to finally leave the pandemic behind us. While no one can say what the new year will bring, let us make a resolve to move forward with optimism and self-confidence, never forgetting the strong warning God and Mother Nature have given us in the past two years.Life is a storehouse of unexpected events. When we forget everything in happiness, then suddenly our security blanket is yanked away and a bitter, challenging situation comes our way. Asleep in the darkness of poor discernment, we lack the inner strength and courage to overcome such unexpected events. This is why we need to have shraddha — care, alertness, awareness — when facing every situation. The word ‘shraddha’ is regularly used by all of us: ‘study with shraddha’, ‘walk with shraddha’, ‘work with shraddha’, but true shraddha encompasses love, faith, patience, mindfulness and surrender. Only when all of these unite does shraddha become complete. Only then can we pierce the outer cover and see the true essence of a given thing — be it an object, situation, or experience. It is then that shraddha acquires its spiritual aspect.The intellect and heart should go hand in hand. While the intellect views the external world, the heart should be able to look within. Real shraddha is in seeing both — the outside and the inside.Once a man parked his bicycle outside a shop and went in. There he met a friend. After buying a few things, he walked back home with his friend, only to realise later that he had left his bicycle near the shop. He ran back and found it where he had parked it. Elated that it was still there, he decided to go to the temple and offer thanks to God. Parking the bicycle outside, he went in to pray. When he came back, his bicycle was missing. Immediately, he began cursing God. “What kind of god are you? I came here to thank you but look what happened. Someone stole my bicycle. I’ll never pray at this temple again.”A friend who saw this asked him, “Where did you leave it? Didn’t you lock it?”“No, I didn’t lock it,” he replied.“You could’ve at least locked it. Why are you blaming God when you didn’t do your part?” his friend exclaimed.We cannot blame God for our own lack of shraddha. When we fail to have such alertness, then the only way life has to wake us up is through the blows that come as a repercussion for our lack of attention. So, if we want to avoid suffering, we should have shraddha in each action. What makes our prayers complete is shraddha and proper effort.We are all sitting on the giant wheel of life. It won’t stop till the ride is over. So, buckle your seatbelt, and sit up with courage. Whether we laugh or cry is up to us. Many challenging and scary situations will arise. If we have self-confidence, we will enjoy the ride. Otherwise, we can cry and shout in fear.Spiritual aspirants will be able to stand apart from everything and observe each situation that arises. They will not expect an unripe mango to be sweet. They will see the green mango for what it is and expect it to be sour. They will expect it to turn sweet when it ripens. Contrary to them, many of us expect sweetness even from green, unripe mangos. This is what happens when we lack proper understanding.Children, in 2022, let us share what we have, at least a little. It need not be money or food. We all have love within us. Give without expecting anything in return. This alone will bring us peace and contentment. Before we reach our final days, if we are able to make a small impression, somewhere, that ‘Here a person with goodness and compassion lived’, no accomplishment is greater than that.To keep ourselves clean, we bathe every day. Similarly, enthusiasm is like a bath for the mind. It is not enough to have enthusiasm and zeal only on New Year’s day. We have to make sure it stays with us every single day of our life. When we do this, it not only makes our life beautiful, but it also spreads enthusiasm to those around us. If we can live like this, there will be joy and bliss everywhere we go. ■