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Dear Brothers and
Sisters,
At New Year’s, we think about the
resolutions we want to make for the coming
year. Even when we resolve to take better
care of our health, finances, or
relationships or set new goals, we usually
quickly return to our old routines.
Rather than list many resolutions to break,
we can list one resolution to make. If we
keep one foremost in our minds, we are more
likely to make it become a reality. For
those on the spiritual path, what one goal
can we stick with that encompasses all other
goals we might normally make? If we had only
one to follow, our resolution for the coming
year can be:
Be evergreen
In 2013.
This resolution encompasses all others we
normally would make. Being evergreen means
that we are always connected to the Source
of eternal bliss within us. To be evergreen
means that we realize ourselves as soul, a
part of God, filled with Light, love,
consciousness, and joy. We can be evergreen
by meditating daily, developing ethical
virtues, doing selfless service, attending
satsang, and having love for God, all
humanity, all living things, and the earth.
Meditating daily keeps us evergreen, or
youthful and full of life. We tap into the
source of all energy, consciousness, and joy
within each time we meditate. If we fulfill
this one resolution, we would stick to our
schedule of meditating a minimum of two and
a half hours daily on the inner Light (doing
the simran practice) and meditating on the
inner Sound (doing the bhajan practice). The
more time spent in meditation, the more we
will witness magnificent inner vistas and
enjoy the enchanting inner Music. We would
travel on this current of Light and Sound
through higher regions until we merge in
God.
Developing ethical virtues keeps us
evergreen. Our soul would have the purity to
enter the realms of God. We would keep the
introspection diary to weed out those
failures that keep us from finding God and
develop the virtues of nonviolence,
truthfulness, purity, humility, and
selflessness.
Doing selfless service keeps us evergreen.
During the time we serve selflessly, we are
not creating more karma for ourselves and we
become receptive to the Divine flowing
through us. In this way, we engage in
activities that focus our attention on God,
keep our ego and negative thoughts at bay,
and aid us in returning to the Lord.
Attending satsang keeps us evergreen. We
imbibe the spiritual teachings through
talks, books, audio and video presentations,
and from the spiritual radiation flowing
from the Master in that charged atmosphere.
Whether attending satsang in the physical
presence of the Master or thousands of miles
away, the Master’s charged attention flows
to us and gives us a spiritual boost so when
we meditate we soar within faster.
Having love for God, all humanity, all
living creatures, and the earth keeps us
evergreen. Love for God draws our soul back
to the Divine. Love for all humanity means
we care for and serve others, even those
different from us, thereby making the world
a loving, peaceful place. Love for all
living creatures means we follow a
vegetarian diet, avoiding meat, fish, fowl,
and eggs, for we recognize them as also
children of the One Creator. Love for the
earth means “going green” so that the
resources gifted to us by God can be
sustained and everyone can avail of them,
whether living now or in posterity.
This year, if we make our one most important
resolution to “Be evergreen in 2013,” all
other resolutions are contained within it.
Then, we will have one point of focus and
can accelerate our progress to reuniting our
soul with God in this lifetime.
Yours affectionately,
Rajinder Singh
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