Tuesday 1 January 2013

Happy New Year

Let the New Year be filled with positivity and cheer.
Let the Spark in ourselves be nurtured so that it glows brightly ever.

"This wish is more applicable to the elderly folks - for the people who have more salt and pepper in their hair, isn't it?" quizzed the 16 year old at home.

Hmm .. this got me thinking -  he is right isn't he?  - perhaps there was a reflection of my thoughts in the wish - so much true for the salt in my hair!

Positivity, Cheer and Sparks occur naturally for youngsters. Kids are born with sparks - they are naturally born with enthusiasm and cheer, they get excited by Super Mario, Spongebob, Harry Potter, barbie dolls....

Why does this change as we go through the toils of life? In short why do the sparks fade as we age?

According to Vedanta, there should indeed be no difference with age - as the inner spirit of a child and that of an old person are absolute, which is Suddha, Chaitanya, Paripoorna Atma. The innate nature of the Atma (inner most self) is to be happy, positive and cheerful.
The reason for the change is because we get too entangled and embroiled with the happenings around us and get carried away by the worldly existence.
To get the knowledge (Jnana) and to remain detached (as much as possible) is the recommendation in a nutshell.

Lets step back from sprituality, as they say getting the Jnana needs the right kind of effort, training, reading of scriptues and a good Guru. So this may take some more effort to explain and to understand :-)

 Lets relate this to real life existence - to our daily lives, work, home -  small and big things such as the morning circus to send kids to school, the metro, politics, neighbours, friends, media et al.

Which are the things that would nuture the "Cheer" and what possibly are the dampeners?

With some thought, I have highlighted the following in brief - however there can be many more.

The spark would be nutured if we have a holistic purpose or goal in life. What is meant by 'purpose in life' is something bigger than "building a house" or "getting a promotion". Though there is no intention of undermining financial achievements -  the Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be used as a reference - we should set up a goal that would give us a sense of personal fulfillment. The purpose should be holistic touching beyond 'I',  in my humble opinion.

Taking joy out of simple and small things in life,  caring for family, friends and society, having a balanced and moderate approach to things will keep the spark glowing.

What are the dampeners -
being overly sensitive to failures, disappointments and losses, being serious, critical, getting frustrated are possible causes that would blow the spark out. Sometimes we see unfairness around us and this put us off. Sometimes luck parts way when we need it most and this will dampens our spirit.

We do not control the circumstances or govern the luck, but we can control the "Reaction". Hence the solution is again similar to the solution proposed by the ancient Vedic philosophers - not to be overly sensitive to the happenings, to recover and move on towards the purpose in life. Not to have fear and to recoup quickly from the dampener.

To conclude, lets take a look at Kural 355

Epporul ethanmaith thaayinum
apporul Meypporul kaanpathu arivu.
 
Whatever be the apparent diversity of a circumstance; the wise will analyse and pursue the basic truth of the matter. One should understand the real import of things, and not to be misled by the circumstances in which they appear.
 
The extension to this would be to analyse, pursue, understand, take the learnings and to move forward in life with the Positivity, Cheer and Spark of a child.
 
Cheers and Wishing a Great Year.
 

 

 

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