Welcoming the New...

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earth? Let’s listen to what Bhagawan has to say about the Advent of the New

Year: ”New Year must usher in a new step in spiritual discipline. The old

must be rung out; the new must be rung in! How do we celebrate the New Year Day?

We sweep, we clean, we remove the cobwebs, we whitewash the walls, we hang up

festoons and greens, floral garlands and croton leaves; we wear new dresses, we

feast on new types of dishes. For one day, we feel fresh and renovated. At this

time of the year, Nature too puts on a new garb of green; every tree is gay

with flowers. The green carpet on the earth is speckled with multicolored

floral dots! In this festival of renewal, man alone continues with

his old prejudices and tendencies, outworn habits and moth-eaten principles.

Should not he too brush the cobwebs from his mind? Should he not get rid of

opinions and motives, which tarnish and demean?” Time cycles pass by

relentlessly. In fact, the concept of time that is relevant to the physical

creation never stops, and in its eternal run remains as a silent witness to the

‘Doer’s Act’. Prasanthi Nilayam, the Divine Workshop, where the Healing Divine

Touch of Love is offered to those who are waiting to be tuned to the Divine, has

had an eventful year 2005! The mega happening being the marking of

Eightieth Year of His Divine Advent which was celebrated with spectacular

grandeur and majesty. Divinise Every Moment “If you wish to embark on

a new life, you need not wait for the arrival of a new year. To wait for a

whole year means waiting for twelve months and so many days, hours, minutes and

seconds. Treat every second as new. Sanctify every moment of your life.

This has to be done by

realizing the unity of Sath (the Divine) and Chith (the individual

Consciousness). When this union is achieved, Ananda (Spiritual Bliss) is

experienced. This is the primary task before everyone. Every second

should be regarded as an expression of the Divine. This New Year Day relates to

the Christian Era. December and January may come and go (every year) but God

neither comes nor goes.” In Prasanthi Nilayam, festivals are not mere

celebrations, but are profound testimonials of great spiritual import each

festivity conveys… that in His physical presence, every day becomes a festive

day and

every moment turns into a moment of greater joy and heavenly bliss. Prasanthi

Nilayam, is the hub of the spiritual fervor that engulfs the world and blossoms

into activities beyond expected dimensions. Today across the world we can see

the reverberations of this growing awareness for global philanthropic

activities in the name of Truth and Righteousness. The Year that is passing

has been one of mixed fortunes. To rightly perceive this, one should remind

oneself of Bhagawan’s definition of a ‘devotee’. He said, “I have My definition

of the devotee I expect. Those devoted to Me have to treat joy and grief, gain

and loss with equal fortitude.” While on the one hand, every Sai devotee has

the

‘Unmatched Warranty’ of His Own Priceless Assurance “Why fear when I am here”;

on the other, humanity at large seemed to have been given greater trials to

test its fortitude on the face of adversities propelled by natural calamities.

Referring to the devastating Tsunami that stuck at the fag end of year 2004,

precisely on 26th December 2004, Bhagawan said later, during the Makara

Sankranthi Divine Discourse, “Last month several people suffered untold

misery and suffering on account of a Tsunami. It is only man’s evil deeds that

are responsible for such a calamity. I, therefore, advise you not to indulge in

wrong actions and evil deeds. It is possible that more troubles may occur during

this year, compared to last year. However, we must move forward unmindful of

those

troubles. These are all passing clouds and you need not be perturbed by these

occurrences. Be bold and courageous to face them. The calamity of Tsunami that

occurred last month was in fact, man-made. It was not Divine Will at all! But,

man feels that all such calamities are thrust upon man by God. Never! God

always provides happiness to man. He has no anger or hatred. His nature is

love. The question arises why these sorrows and difficulties in the world?

Strictly speaking, happiness will not have any value without sorrow. Man cannot

experience happiness without undergoing some difficulty or the other. Both

happiness and sorrow are intertwined. One cannot exist without the other.”

The message is loud and clear. Bhagawan, most characteristically, with a touch

of emphasis and authority exhorted in no uncertain terms

that, the calamity of Tsunami that occurred was in fact, man-made and not Divine

will at all! Here is the pointer towards human ventures that often got

misdirected. Human ventures that become adventures into the land of

unrighteousness have largely taken the credit off humanity. The bottom line

here is that civilization of today, as a whole, has fallen short of His Divine

benchmark. In an age when science has conquered bigger vistas to crash space

lines and convert them into the shortest possible time frame, man seems to be

lagging behind in his quest for forging his inner response to the Final Call.

Total surrender is the

way to enter the mansion “When one offers one's entire life to the Lord

and sheds tears of bliss, that is all that is needed. As long as there is no

such complete surrender, there will be need for doors and the like. Why

are doors erected? ...to regulate the entry and exit of persons. But, it is the

irony of the present Kali or Dark Age that the door is kept open for the entry

of all kinds of undesirable creatures. Man's mind is kept open for the entry of

evil thoughts. The door should be barred against the

inroads of egoism and acquisitive impulses. The door (of the mind) should be

kept sacred. Regard the entire cosmos as the great mansion of the Supreme Lord.

It has no streets or doors. Total surrender is the way to enter the

mansion. The advent of a New Year is greeted by welcoming the New Year and

bidding farewell to the old one. This is the practice in the ordinary world.

But it is not entirely a worldly affair.” Man who is groping in darkness

replaces compassion with his big ego, which takes him further from all that is

Divine. The essential truth, which is individual transformation,

is the absolute need of the hour, which will bring radical societal change

engulfing the world with all that is worthy to transform it in to the world of

our dreams. Let us once again take a closer look at what Bhagawan has told

us over the years – especially now on the eve of a new year: The Real

Panchaangam Kasturi has just now read from the Panchaangam (almanac) for

the New Year, Plava, the predictions of the astrologers about rainfall, the

condition of the crops, the prices of articles in the markets, the rise and

fall in the rates of gold and silver, the prospects of internal and external

peace, the occurrence of natural calamities like floods, droughts, earthquakes,

etc. But reading all this only increases your worries, your restlessness. Take

things as and when they come. Do not try to peep too far into the future with

the help of astrologers. They are mostly wrong, and the data you supply them

are mostly unreliable. Take care of the Panchaangams (the five-limbed

almanacs) within you; that is more vital. The Panchaangams within you are the

five senses; educate the mind to hold them in check---then you can have peace

of mind, whatever be the rise in the market rates or the quantity of rain. Do

not get panicky over what the almanac says about the combination of many

planets, the Ashtagraha koota. They exaggerate the consequences; nothing much

will happen; the pralaya (destruction of the Universe) is more in the

frightened mind than in external nature. If you earn the anugraha (blessing) of

the Lord, no graha (planet) or combination of grahas can harm you. If you learn

how to secure that anugraha, you need not worry about the Panchaangam. Today,

you are celebrating the arrival of a New Year with a new name, a name that you

will use for the twelve coming months. But remember, it is not the year alone

that is new once in 365 days. Every day is new, every hour and minute,

every second is new. Do not celebrate only the New Year Day in joy; celebrate

every second in joy. Every step towards Godhead is to be cherished

“Start from today, not that today is a New Year---there are so many New Years

celebrated as such by one or the other community that every day is a new year

to some one set of people---but because it is today and the matter brooks no

delay, start from today a new chapter in your life, the chapter of Japam

(recitation of holy name) and Dhyaanam (meditation), Japa-sahitha dhyaanam

(recitation-oriented meditation) or Dhyaana-sahitha japam (meditation-oriented

recitation). In the Thretha Yuga, the Name was Seethaaraama; in the Dwaapara

Yuga, it was Raadheshyaama; in this Kali Yuga, it is Sarvanaama, that is to say,

all Names of the Lord; you can select any one that appeals to you. Life

is like a flight of steps towards the Godhead. You have your foot on the first

step when you are born; each day is a step that must be climbed; so be steady,

watchful and earnest. Do not count the steps ahead or exult over the steps

behind. One step at a time and that well climbed, that is enough success to be

satisfied with and to give you.” Good bye Year 2005. Yes, it is time to bid

good bye to the year that is passing off. In his

Eternal Quest, man, the highest of HIS creations is often posed with a challenge

to conquer the concept of linear time, to join the elite 'Hall of Fame' of

Eternity. Time cycles pass…relentlessly….. The concept of time that is relevant

to the physical creation never stops, and in its eternal run remains as a silent

witness to the 'Doer's Act'. Human all over the world are ushering into the New

Year 2006 with pleasant memories of a HAPPY CHRISTMAS that has just gone by.

After the mega event of the year in November, the celebration of 80th Year of

His Advent, now it was the turn of commemorating the Advent of the Son of God,

Lord Jesus Christ. His profound declaration over 2000 years ago, "I and my

Father are One" is not just an ecclesiastical admonition anymore; rather it is

a statement of reality that Bhagawan has been teaching humanity at large to

understand, to imbibe the Ultimate Truth…I am That! Let us….Let us be

motivated to reach The Goal. Source:

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