THE BEGINNING
Our Christmas of 2019 had come and gone and given us a lot of new hopes and ideas for 2020. All our thoughts have now turned to the new opportunities that lay ahead. While all my friends and family members are busy in managing their respective lives, our daily living is slowly moving into making our life even better than what it was in 2019.
All these will only happen when we concentrate and continue to persevere with additional care and control but most importantly my personal objective is to get the blessings of my God, my Teachers and my Guides. I should reflect on where the last year took us to and then plan carefully where the New Year 2020 will take us.
We are mindful that all these reflections will come with mixed feelings; mostly with pleasure but sometimes with a bit of pain and regret. However, that is life and I am determined to learn from my past mistakes. So the prospect of starting the New Year fills me with hope and expectations. I feel that I have the opportunity to begin again with a fresh start no matter what the last year held for me and my family. I know that no matter what lay in our past, when we endeavour to proceed with confidence and control and confess our sins to ask for forgiveness from every one we are certain that we will be forgiven and God's grace will let us go on to make a fresh start.
Top of Form
As I was walking in my yard this morning I saw a beautiful red rose hanging from the branch over the fence and I stood there for a while to appreciate that natural image. Next to the pretty flower was a dry branch full of sharp thorns that I picked up to throw it in the rubbish bin because I did not want it to hurt my loved ones anytime later.
Growing up with my ancestors in our Arya Sanatani faith I was told to get rid of any obstacles that lie ahead for the family and friends. We were told that our circumstances maybe unfavourable at times and so some discouragement may come into our life but our hope and faith in the powers of the Supreme Being will always make us overcome all our difficulties if we regularly recited the Gayatri Mantra –
Om Bhur Bhuvaḥ Swaḥ
Tat-savitur Vareñyaṃ
Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi
Dhiyo Yonaḥ Prachodayāt
We meditate on that most adored Supreme Lord, the creator, whose effulgence (divine light) illumines all realms (physical, mental and spiritual). May this divine light illumine our intellect and our life.
and the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra.
Om tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushti – vardhanam urva – rukamiva bandhanan mrityor – muksheeya ma – amritat
O Lord we worship and adore You, O three-eyed One, O Shiva. You are sweet gladness, the fragrance of life, Who nourishes us, restores our health, and causes us to thrive. As, in due time, the stem of the cucumber weakens, and the gourd is freed from the vine, so free us from attachment and death, and do not withhold immortality.
The new year is just moving slowly to let us progress in the right direction if we decide to first of all help ourselves and then assist our loved ones. I have confident that God provides us with the needed strength and courage to persevere and grow. I am determined to clear all the obstacles that may come for us and let us live with happiness, smile and sense of service.