WELCOMING THE NEW..

[Guest guest]

WELCOMING THE NEW….

Welcoming the new by giving up the old…a fresh new blessing comes our way with

the advent of New Year 2006

Year 2006 is almost at our doorstep. Much has gone by and we have strived on

…primarily because our Beloved Bhagawan walks with us here on earth - cajoling,

chastising, warning, guiding and engulfing us with unconditional Love - that

does not seek 'pratyupakaram', anything in return!

When He is our Aadhaar (base) and has guidelines to protect and nurture us every

step of our way – what more could we ask for here on this planet 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.