New Year is a great opportunity to contemplate on the year that passed by and look forward to the year that is standing right in front of us. We say that the year passed by. But time does not pass rather, we walk past the time. We pass through, year after year. It is up to us, as to how we utilize this new cycle of 12 months, 365 days. It is up to us to decide and resolve to commit if we want to just pass this year or put in some effort in improving our life, finding joy, happiness and peace. All of these can be achieved if we find the purpose of our life. The ultimate purpose of life can be found only through spiritual growth and spiritual awakening, also called Enlightenment or Realization of the Truth. We are enlightened when we are in a state of Consciousness. “We human beings, are always in a state of mind, bombarded with various thoughts. We have to still the mind, kill the mind and bring down the Mental Thought Rate, MTR, to a speed where only one thought enters the mind, at one time. This is the state of Consciousness. This is also called the state of Thoughtlessness or Mindfulness. In this state, our intellect shines and we attain the power to discriminate each and every thought. In this state, we experience SatChitAnanda or the Bliss in the Consciousness of the Truth,” says Atman in Ravi, Spiritual Leader and Founder, AiR Institute of Realization and AiR centre of Enlightenment.
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Resolutions are promises that we choose to make to ourselves to improve our life and make it more meaningful. What is a better time than the start of a new year to take some resolutions to ensure spiritual growth and ultimately, improve our spiritual life? Atman in Ravi shares some new year resolutions that you may take to improve your spiritual life.
- I will start a Quest, a Talaash, to know the truth of my life, death and purpose of my life. I want to find answers for questions, ‘Why did I take birth on this earth? What will happen after I die? What is the way to Eternal Happiness? Is there a way to Everlasting Peace?’
- I will live the life of a Yogi. Yoga is being in union with the Divine. A true Yogi is ever-united with the Divine. I will strive to always be in union with the Divine. Every activity that I do will be one of the four forms of Yoga – either Karma Yoga or Gyana Yoga or Bhakti Yoga or Dhyana Yoga.
- I will dedicate a few minutes of the day to ‘silence’ and try to reduce my Mental Thought Rate, MTR from around 50 thoughts per minute to one thought at a time. That way, I can reach a state of Thoughtlessness or Consciousness where my intellect will shine. I will have the Power of Discrimination. I will do my best to be a Sthitpragya – the one who lives with steady intellect, always in Consciousness.
- I will try to attain the Realization that I am not this body, mind and ego. I am the Divine Soul. I resolve to start my journey to attain Realization of the Truth and liberate myself from the triple suffering of the body, mind and ego on this earth.
- I will strive to realize the Truth of life and transcend my Karma so that I don’t return to this earth in a rebirth. I will live as an instrument of the Divine, surrendering my life to the Divine and acting in accordance with the Divine Will.
- I will take all necessary steps in the direction to realize that as I am a Divine Soul, every other living creature is also a Divine Soul. I will try to realize God or SIP – the Supreme Immortal Power in every living being, whether it be an insect, an animal or another human being.
- I will try to love one and all as Divine beings. I will try to realize that every particle in this universe, whether animate or inanimate, is a particle of the Divine.
- I will try my best to practice detached attachment and not have any expectations from anyone. I shall not lose my peace of mind on people and possessions and shall not suffer by being miserable on anything. I will be dispassionate about everything.
- I will live in complete Surrender to the Divine and accept my life and its circumstances as Divine Will. I will live with trust, faith and hope and live this Leela as Maaya.
- I will be in Gratitude for every breath that take and for every beat of my heart. The Lord has given this life to me as a gift and I shall find the True Purpose of this Life and live towards achieving it.
Spirituality influences the physical, mental and psychological aspects of a person’s life in a positive way. It helps a person be in peace, gratitude and aceptance, thus, filling their life with calmness and pure happiness. Being on a spiritual journey makes a person overcome his ignorance and makes him realize that he is not the body that is formed out of the five elements of this earth. At death, he will leave the body on earth, itself. He is not the mind as mind is just an illusion. It is just a bundle of thoughts. He is not the ego too, which is just a false identity of oneself. He is a soul, in reality. The Soul is a spark of unique life that is a part of the Supreme Immortal Power, SIP. When a person realizes this truth, he transcends the triple suffering of body, mind and ego and feels eternal peace and everlasting bliss. A spiritual person is not drawn to materialistic gains, is kinder and his outlook towards life completely transforms. Spirituality is the only way to everlasting happiness. In 2023, you can also make your life spiritual, by following these resolutions.
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