Good Bye 2018, Welcome 2019!

The year is coming to an end. It is time to bid farewell to 2018, and move towards welcoming 2019. We will all have various feelings attached to different moments we experienced in 2018 and we start imagining what we will do in the New Year.

When we look back at the year, we think to ourselves, ‘Oh! This was the happiest moment! This should have lasted forever!’, ‘Ah! Why did I do this? I shouldn’t have done this. It was not a good idea. Why did it happen at all?’ Like these many similar feelings arise. Some moments you want to hold onto, others have a hold on you, and yet others you wonder why they ever happened at all, you feel embarrassed, or depressed when you think about them and wonder why they took place in your life. In all of these incidents, you are stuck in a moment, which has already past. At this time, you are not living in the present and this is why you are not able to fully appreciate your present.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, “People believe that karma is the external activities people do like eating, sleeping, hitting someone etc. People label all actions as karma. But in reality the activity they see is really the fruit of karma and not the actual karma itself. What does a child do when you give him bitter medicine? He makes a face! And when you give him medicine that is sweet, he will like it. When people do raag-dwesh (attachment- abhorrence) they are planting causes that give rise to new karma. You will have to experience karma that you like and also the ones you dislike. The ones you do not like will leave you hurting while those you like will leave you happy. The causes that were created in your past life bring fruits to you, in this life.”

Therefore, you can say that, the incidents you are holding on to of your past are simply the fruits of causes you created in your past life. So now what should you do with these memories? Param Pujya Dadashri says, “Now if someone bothers you, you should understand that you must have done something bad to him in your past life, and now he is returning the favour. So you must resolve the situation calmly and peacefully. But because you cannot remain peaceful, you end up sowing new seeds of karma. There is only one way to deal with karmas bound from the previous life and that is through peace and equanimity. You should not have a single bad thought about other people. You should simply feel that you are experiencing your account and that whatever the person may be doing to you is all on account of your own karma. You should understand that you are suffering because of your own previous bad deeds. Only then is there any freedom. As a matter of fact, he is giving you such a difficult time because of the unfolding effect of your own karma: he is simply an ‘instrument’.”

Let us, using Param Pujya Dadashri’s understanding, resolve to let go of, instead of hold on to those positive or negative incidents that already played their role in our life this year. Let us get ready to wholeheartedly embrace the new opportunities in the upcoming year. Wishing you all a Happier 2019!