Happy New Year 2023

 

The beginning of a new calendar year today. The journey continues. Not sure when and where to consider that it started? At the time of birth on this planet ? Or much before that? Sometimes it feels it must have been much before that because life had a certain direction, something consuming to attain and then much happened. That burning desire for which this birth was taken met with a road block. It was impossible to get past that block no matter how hard I tried and how broken I was doing it. Yet in that avalanche of circumstances something miraculous happened. Life was catapulted into an entirely different orbit and routed to a totally different goal. The goal to meet the Supreme Being. 

The journey has been complicated. There is a guiding light of faith but there has been darkness to overcome in all directions. Slowly but surely there are signs of daylight but it seems like the sunrise is not very close yet. 

Yesterday a friend forwarded a YouTube video message from a senior journalist from India by the name of Bhau Torsekar. He had a thought provoking message in the context of the New Year.  He questioned the wisdom of marking the change from one year to next and celebrating it.  Human beings are hypocrites, he said. They  go about wishing everyone Happy New Year. But do they mean it from within their hearts ? The very next day they are back to the old game to insult and humiliate people who think differently from them. They don’t intend to lend themselves to make others’ lives happy. Old habits of selfishness, apathy for others continue smoothly from December 31st to January 1st. What changes is merely one digit in the year on the calendar. Rest everything is status quo. Our likes, dislikes, preconceived notions, judgments, biases, grudges, weaknesses, greed and such things. 

He went in to say that those who are already engaged in making others lives better do not have to say it aloud or wish verbally “ Happy New Year “.   A mother cares for her baby starting from the womb and until the baby grows and is able to care for himself/ herself. The wish for the happiness is ingrained in the mother’s heart. Whatever job we may be at if we do it with utmost sincerity and purpose of making the lives of people we serve better we don’t need to verbally proclaim it. How true, I thought! 

The message resonates with the karmayoga doctrine of the Bhagwad Gita. This has been the backbone of my journey since changing course in life over 30 years back. Sure enough practicing the principles of karma yoga has slowly but surely brought light into the dark recesses of the mind and opened the doors to better understanding of many things within and without. 

An interesting concept Mr Torsekar spoke in that video is the absurdity of “celebrating” a new year/ anniversary/ birthday etc…..essentially any kind of passage of time. He compared our time on earth with a debit card. Every time we swipe it/ use it the amount is deducted, never added. Incidentally today I was reading an abhang by Sant Namdev and in that he refers to mortal beings as carry bags with holes.  Sarvaa(n) bhootaa(n)chiyaa fuTakiyaa khoLe! Everything in the mortal body will leak out of life, perish! Except the Aatmaa ( Self/ soul). Bharle na gaLe aatmapaNe! 

 As I reflected today it occurred to me that not only the time in our hands is like a debit card , if we take the right course, there is one more thing that will behave like a debit card ! Our ignorance! Only if our course is geared to realize that dimension within us that is beyond the reach of finitude. Beyond the identity of body, mind, intellect. If we can recognize these as mere tools in our journey and not ourselves. 

OM Asato maa sat gamaya 

Tamaso maa jyotir gamaya 

Mrityor maa amrutam gamaya 

From untruth to truth, darkness to light, death to immortality…..may our journey be in that direction!

There is still a lot of darkness around me to overcome before the body would be discarded. I’m happy to use both my debit cards to reach my goal. All I can hope is I don’t spend them unwisely. May I stay grounded in whatever little light I have found within and prevent the potential mischiefs of the mind. 

The journey continues. 2023 is just a mile marker on the long road ! 

Saree is another cherished weave in my collection. The Panchyantra saree! It is the finest of Odisha ikats depicting yantras of five deities : Ganesh, Vishnu( Narayan), Devi(Ambika), Shiva( Rudra) and Sun( Bhaskar) on the pallu as well as the entire body. In addition there is a Sanskrit verse woven into the pallu amidst the yantras saluting the five deities.