" Kasthuri has just now read from
the Panchangam (almanac) for the New Year, 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 Panchangams (the five-limbed almanacs) within you; that is more
vital. The Panchangams within you are the five senses; educate the mind
to hold them in check - then you can have peace of mind, whatever 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
Ashtagrahakoota. 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 Panchangam.
Today,
you are celebrating the arrival of a New Year with a new name, a name
that you will use for 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.
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 Dhyanam (meditation),
Japa-sahitha Dhyaanam (recitation-oriented meditation) or
Dhyaana-sahitha Japam (meditation-oriented recitation). In the Thretha
Yuga, the Name was SeethaRama; in the Dwapara Yuga, it was RadheShyama;
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
encouragement for the next one. Do not slide from the step you have got
up on. Every step is a victory to be cherished; every day wasted is a
defeat to be ashamed of.
Slow and
steady - let that be your maxim! Adhere to a regular routine, a
time-table. Just as the doctor prescribes a certain fixed measure or
weight of the drug and warns you that anything less is ineffective and
anything more is harmful, so too, have some limit for your spiritual
exercises. Do not overdo them or do them casually and without care. The
doctors tell you also about the hour of the day and the number of times
the drug has to be repeated, for, the action of the quantity taken must
be reinforced before it becomes weak. So also, you have to repeat the
Japam and Dhyanam at regular intervals.
Millionaires
who always go about in cars and aeroplanes and people of sedentary
habits are advised by doctors to take a long walk every morning. The
walk is called a 'constitutional', because it helps to build up the
constitution. Similarly, to get over the mental ills consequent on
too-long brooding over worldly affairs, the Guru will advise you to have
a long spell of Dhyanam and Japam. Do not move so fast with the world;
the cure for moving fast is to sit quiet. Do not get entangled in the
vain hubbub of the world; the treatment for those who suffer from the
after-effects of that is silence and meditation.
You will
have observed that when your train is stationary, another train moving
along another line gives you the feeling that it is your train that
moves. If you watch your coach, fix your attention on your train, you
know the truth. Similarly, as long as your attention is turned on "the
other," "the outer," your knowledge is based on illusion. Once you
divert the attention to yourself, you can discover the truth, viz.,
though the world moves, you are still.
In the
Panchangam, as Kasthuri quoted now, it is also predicted that in the
year that is born today, the number of people who deride God and who
laugh at Him and hate Him will increase. Let Me ask, how can that
happen, for that number has reached the maximum already! The cynical
spirit of derision and ridicule is the bane of this age; but there is no
reason for the godly to be down-hearted. At least the coming
Ashtagrahakoota (conjunction of eight planets) will put some fear into
people's minds and they will call on God to save them and they will do
various acts to propitiate the divine beneficence in order to overcome
the maleficence of the planets. Therefore, the prediction might prove
incorrect, after all. Be assured that the Lord has come to save the
world from calamity. Your duty is to keep calm, to pray for the
happiness and prosperity of all. Do not pray for your own exclusive
happiness, and say, "Let the rest of the worl
d go to pieces." You cannot be happy when the rest of mankind is
unhappy. You are an organic part of the human community. Share your
prosperity with others; strive to alleviate the sufferings of others.
That is your duty.
