January 1, 2012

The holiday season is a festive time of year in which we celebrate the joy and warmth of Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa with our loved ones. We put aside the stresses of life to enjoy family, friendship, and fun. During this season, we also express gratitude to God for all the gifts we have received. While outwardly, we may share in gift giving with others, we also acknowledge the spiritual gifts we receive from the Lord.

This time of gratitude renews us. Whereas most of the year we are distressed about not having everything we want, at this holiday season we realize how much we have been given by God. For those on the spiritual path, we can also reflect on the tremendous grace bestowed on us by our spiritual Masters. Even though we may have passed through some difficult times, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or financially, we realize that through the grace that the Masters showed on us, we have survived these times, and at the level of the soul, we are filled with Light, love, and happiness. Like a candy may have a sweet, soft filling inside an outer crust, the soul within lives in a state of sweetness no matter how hard our outer life may be. Through meditation and receptivity to the Master’s grace, we can taste the delicious nectar of the Light and Sound of God within. Just as a parent gives a crying child a candy to distract his or her attention from pain, so does the inner Light and Sound give us something soothing and enjoyable to keep our attention from the outer pains of life. As we enjoy the outer desserts and the gift giving of the holiday season, let us also enjoy the inner desserts and spiritual gifts that the Lord has so elegantly wrapped up for us and placed within the depth of our soul.

We are also celebrating the New Year. The gratitude we experience during the holidays culminates in the New Year, a time of resolution. Having reflected on what we received from God and our spiritual Masters, we can now think about what we can do to put these gifts into action to make a brighter year ahead. Can we convert those gifts into something to make our lives and the lives of others better? We can reflect on what steps we can take to improve ourselves so that we can make greater strides in our mundane and our spiritual lives. Among the resolutions we make, we can consider whether we can put in more time for our meditation. Can we be more diligent in our introspection to improve our ethical life? Just as we received love and help from God and our spiritual Master, can we also have those gifts flow out from us to help those around us through selfless service? Let us take some time to consider how to take steps that will bring us closer to our spiritual goal of oneness with God.

I pray that this holiday season and the New Year shower you with an abundance of spiritual gifts. May each of you enjoy the delicious sweet nectar of the Light and Sound within. During this holiday season and in the New Year ahead, may you all be blessed with divine love and the bliss of joyous union with the Lord.

Yours affectionately,

Rajinder Singh