Decide and Do

This evening, we have met here since it is New Year Day, the first of January 1964! Well, this is a delusion within the larger Delusion! This Day is welcomed as marking some big change, as if yesterday was something quite different for it belonged to 1963 and today is something quite distinct, for it is 1964! This day is celebrated by people, in picnics, in gambling, in drinking and feasting; they attend cinema shows, wear new clothes, give presents to each other and greet all with joy and hilarity. They exhaust their money and their energy in the pursuit of frivolity, thrill and excitement.

Every Second is New

All this is due to the custom that views this day as something unique. In fact, the 'year' is just a convention. There are as many New Year Days as there are days in the year; many communities and countries have their own distinct calendars. It is not the first of January or the first of Chaithra (first month of Telugu New Year) that is unique. The year is just a name to indicate a number of days, a day to indicate a number of hours, the hour is a period to indicate a number of months, the month, a number of time counted in minutes, and the minute is a name for sixty seconds. Each second is new. It is a gift, a chance, an opportunity, a thing to be celebrated, to be used for your uplift. That is to say, each second is a fresh chance given to you for training the mind, refining the intellect, purifying the emotions, strengthening the will, for getting confirmed in the conviction that you are the deathless Aathma (Self, the Infinite Consciousness).

Fix Your Eye on the Goal

Man is blinded by the objective world and he believes that world to be real, meaningful and worthy of pursuit. The cataract grows in the eye and robs it of its efficiency. The cataract is the enemy of the eye. Ignorance, the cataract of the inner eye, blinds the intellect and robs it of its efficiency. So, it cannot see the Divinity that is your real nature. It misleads you into the impression that you are a man (Maanava), whereas you are really God (Maadhava)....

Fix it (the Absolute Reality) in your inner consciousness. That is the path of Liberation, which you must start treading and, today is as good a day as any, for deciding to do so. You have meditated too long on riches, status, salary, children, relatives, fame and the standard of living. They are all of minor interest, momentary value, dubious profit. Meditate, fix your urge on the Nithya, the Sathya, the Nirmala, the Nischala – the Eternal, the Real, the Pure and the Immovable.

There Is No Two

There are two birds sitting on one tree, the Upanishad says: the jeevaathma and the Paramaathma – the individual soul and the Supreme Soul – on the tree of this body, this World. One bird eats the fruits of that tree, while the other simply looks on, as a witness. But, the wonder is, the two birds are really one, though they appear as two; they cannot be separated, since they are two aspects of the same entity. Steam in the air cannot be seen; it has no shape or form; but it is the same as ice, which is hard, heavy and cold. Niraakaara and Saakaara (without Form and with Form), are just two ways in which the One manifests Itself.

The minute hand of the clock is the individual soul the bird that eats the fruits. It goes round and round but, the hour hand moves silently and slowly, with a certain dignity. The hour hand can be said to be the Supreme Soul. Once an hour the two meet, but, the individual soul does not get that consummation fixed for ever. It loses the precious chance and so has to go round and round again and again. Liberation is when the two merge, and only one remains. When the obstacles in the path of truth are laid low, deliverance is achieved. That is why moksha (liberation) is something that can be won, here and now; one need not wait for the dissolution of the physical body for that.

Let Him Mend Your Mind

Action must not be felt as a burden, for that feeling is a sure sign, indicating that it is against the grain. No action which helps your progress will weigh heavily on you. It is only when you go counter to your innermost nature that you feel it a burden. A time comes when you look back on your achievement and sigh at the futility of it all. Entrust to the Lord, before it is too late, your mind and let Him shape it as He likes. Assign to your mind the task of serving the Lord and it will grow tame. You do not hand over the goldsmith an ornament that is quite nice; you give him for repairs or reshaping, the ornaments you feel have been broken or dented or gone out of fashion. So too, give the Lord your mind that certainly needs repair, if not complete reconstruction.

The Mind Creates Its Own Prison

Like the silk-worm that spins from out of itself the cocoon that proves to be its tomb, man spins from out of his own mind, the cage in which he gets trapped. But, there is a way of escape, which the spiritual teacher (Guru) can teach you, or which the God in you will reveal to you. Take to the spiritual practice which will bring relief. Be away with the roles of clown and clout, which you have acted all the ages. Take on the role of the Hero, not the Zero! Forget the past, do not worry about possible errors or disappointments. Decide and do.

- Divine Discourse on January 1st, 1964