A Resolution to Take This New Year

Happy Gudi Padwa, Ugadi, Chaitra Navratri 

(Transcription of a Old Talk  - *The Pearls of wisdom by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankarji* )

This New Year, take a resolution to forgive all those you are/were upset with or angry at in the past year, and start a new chapter with enthusiasm and naturalness.

Time is like the wind, which nobody can stop. Time is like the Sun, around which the Earth revolves. Time is like our mind – ancient yet very fresh and very new.

The celebration of the New Year is to honor time. Honoring time means honoring the mind, and honoring the mind means honoring yourself. And the way to honor yourself is to know that you are neither the culprit nor the victim.

What stops you from honoring yourself? One of the reasons is when you think you are a culprit and you have done something wrong. If you are a sinner, you can never be at peace with yourself. Only when you get out of the culprit consciousness, there is peace and a spiritual light within you. You should know that you are the light, and you are a spark of Universal Love.

Every individual wants to experience Universal Love, and that can only happen when we are out of the culprit consciousness.

The other side of the coin is victim consciousness, which is just as debilitating. If you feel you are a victim, you can never express the truth of life. The purpose of being here is to express all facets of life; that is, love, joy, and wisdom. And to be able to fully express this is true celebration. But if you feel that you are a victim of situations, of time, and of other people, you can never do that.

How to get over victim consciousness? Know that all the unpleasant experiences you have been through have given you depth and thank them. And the pleasant experiences have given you an opportunity to serve more, and thank them too.

Life is a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant. We must thank the unpleasant days because nothing gets us more centered than unpleasant situations. Unpleasant things take you out of the external and puts you within yourself, which gives you depth and adds to your personality.

So, drop all the complaints and thank all those bitter days because they have given you strength. And also, thank the pleasant days that made you realize your true potential and helped you express the joy that you are! By thanking the pleasant and the unpleasant, we get over victim consciousness.

Let’s welcome the coming New Year with a resolution to do something excellent and to be of use to others. Let’s resolve to be happy and spread happiness.

Taking these few pearls of wisdom and treasuring it is essential to make life a celebration. These are the decorations for celebrating life."

Today is the New Year, celebrated as Ugadi, Cheti Chand & Gudi Padwa across the nation, we pray for auspicious beginnings.

Hearty wishes for happy festivities from all of us here at The Art of Living International Center, Bengaluru.