Four powerful ways to happiness in 2021

 

Celebration can be attributed to any reason, because the nature of our spirit is to celebrate. The new year is a time when the spirit of celebration engulfs the whole world. This is also an opportunity to reflect on the year gone by and take stock of the lessons learnt. A celebration has social, emotional and spiritual components. Often, we focus on the first two and forget the third. True celebration happens when the spiritual aspect is attended to.

Very often, people ask me how I see the future. And I say that the future is for them to build however they want it. The unwise regret the past, think the future is destiny and are miserable in present. The wise see their past as destiny, the future as free will and are happy in the present.

However significant the events of the past year were at the time, looking back, you cannot see them all as anything but a dream. Reflecting on these events, what stands out is the impermanent nature of all things. Events are like stones and pebbles in the great river of time which keeps flowing unabated. In life, things are to be learnt and forgotten — learnt so that you do not repeat the same mistakes and forgotten so that they do not leave you traumatized.

Here are four ways to happiness in the new year:

Make Meditation a Part of Life
Modern life’s demands lead to stress and restlessness, which can be released through a few minutes of meditation. Meditation gives you deep rest. The deeper you are able to rest, the more dynamic you will be in activity. It is the best tool to wipe your mind clean of all past impressions that weigh you down.

Often, we get pulled in different directions and are unable to devote time to ourselves. We do not take out the time to think and reflect. This can leave us dull and tired. A few quiet moments everyday are the source of creativity. Silence heals and rejuvenates and gives you depth and stability. Sometime during the day, sit for a few minutes, get into the cave of your heart, eyes closed, and keep the world away.

Serve
Make a commitment to make this world a better place to live. Do some acts of kindness without expecting anything in return. Service (seva) alone can bring contentment in life. It creates a sense of connectedness. When you bring some relief to someone through selfless service, good vibrations come to you. When you show kindness, your true nature, which is love and peace, come to the surface.

Feel Grateful
Our love, faith, and belief should be deep-rooted, and then everything else moves on its own. The feeling that “I am blessed” can help you overcome any failure. Once you realize that you are blessed, then all the complaints and grumbling disappear, all the insecurities disappear and you become grateful, contented and peaceful.

Spend time with Nature
If you are not amazed by the magnificence of this creation — your eyes are not yet opened. Tell me, what in this creation is not a mystery? Birth is a mystery, death is a mystery. If both birth and death are mysteries, then life is certainly a greater mystery. Being completely immersed in the mystery of life and in this creation is samadhi.

Just like we live in the outer world of events and circumstances, we also live in the inner world of emotions and feelings, which we are not always aware of. The distance between the outer and the inner worlds is just the blink of an eye. Yoga is the skill of keeping attention on the inner world while acting in the outer. When you are lost in the outside world, there is disharmony in the inner world and life is like a war. When you are established in the inner world, there is clarity in the outer world and life becomes a game.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Message for the New Year 2021

2020 has made us wiser; it was a challenging year - all those who were on the run or never sat at home were forced to sit at home. Those into service like frontline health workers put their heart & soul, put their lives at risk. Places of worship like temples, mosques, even ashrams were shut down. Hotel industry and tourism almost disappeared. 

But there’s 1 thing - the zeal/enthusiasm didn’t stop, the flame was alive. Our experience in caring /sharing for people has only grown.

Human mind has enormous capacity to adjust, accommodate and acclimatise to any eventuality. Many have discovered another dimension in their life - the spiritual dimension, that you don’t need to go to any place of worship to be spiritual and can sit and meditate wherever you are to find peace amid the chaos. These dimensions have made our lives richer. 

Innovative spirit has been coming up in many parts of the world. Innovation comes when the mind is calm, serene and relaxed. This time gave us an opportunity to do things that we were either postponing or complaining about that we didn’t have the time to do. Now we say goodbye to 2020 and get ready to welcome 2021.

The coming year will definitely give us the much-needed spirit of enthusiasm and willingness to care & share for each other and move towards more progress in our personal and social life. 

There are people who get stuck in time, then those who flow with time, then those who change time and there are others who surpass/go beyond time. As meditators / people in conscious living, you all have the ability to beyond time. That is spiritual wisdom. Know that you are beyond the body and events. This glimpse will make the foundation of love, thought and compassion unstoppable, irrespective of situations, with a smile & sense of celebration.

There are people who could not see through the year and exited the planet earlier and the families could not even say goodbye to them due to COVID-19. I tell them - there is a strength within you, of deep inner silence, through which you can bring peace, not just to everyone around you, but to realms that are unfathomable, which are beyond our apparent reach. Continue to meditate; your deep connection with with the silence within you will bring peace and solace to those who have crossed over as well.

Let’s welcome 2021 to bring more happiness and remove any traces of fear or uncertainty that we may have harboured or carried on with us. Let’s use wisdom to uplift our spirits in these times.

Art of Living is a global family and in the new year, we celebrate our 40th year. We will spend this year in reflecting on the path this movement has walked through. All those who have spent decades, many years, in AOL should recollect, write and compile their stories/ experiences for posterity. This is the icing on the cake, the real thing is the profound inner silence. In this 40th year, let’s spread the fragrance to all those in need so that people can feel the transformation in their lives and lead a happy, healthy life.

All those who are sincere, intense seekers - this would be a year in which you’ll go deeper in wisdom and be the lighthouse for the whole world. 

We’ll do some celebrations in the year-end, after the pandemic and uncertainties looming over the entire planet are over. In this, ayurveda will help, yagnas (ancient ceremonies), they will all help.

And, this year will have many surprises for us all! Yes, pleasant surprises!