“…Forget the past, for it is gone from your domain! Forget the future, for it is beyond your reach! Control the present! Live supremely well now! This is the way of the wise…” ― Paramhansa Yogananda
Live in the present, here and now. We hear these words often in many spiritual teachings. Christ said, “Sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof.” In other words, don’t worry about tomorrow, today, today is enough to be concerned with. In Master’s teachings he talks about the Eternal Now, in the great teachings of India this is a repeated concept.
Nayaswami Uma
Master explains it to us in the quote above. Let’s try to follow his advice in this New Year. So how do we forget the past and live now with hope and faith?
All too easily we remember the challenges and failures of the past. We focus on mistakes and disappointments. Letting go of regret, sorrow or guilt can be very difficult for us. But that is exactly what Master is asking us to do. He said …”Forget the past, it is gone…!”
“We do have a fresh start in every moment”
The Masters are telling us that we do have a fresh start, not just at the beginning of a New Year, but in every moment. Pay attention to what is in front of you here and now, don’t be distracted from the potential of this moment because of past errors. Dwelling on past mistakes will only block your capacity for success and happiness now.
The past has happened, we cannot change it, what we can do is learn from the past and try to make the present and thus the future better. Letting go of past failures and mistakes, with compassion and forgiveness allows us to embrace this moment and move forward.
We have within us the capacity for great joy
How? By changing our thoughts, whenever we begin to focus on problems, past mistakes, and failures, change your mind. Use affirmations, mantra, japa, do not allow yourself to be pulled into a negative mindset. Pray to God and Gurus for help and guidance to stay firm in your resolve.
John Milton, the English poet said, “The mind is its own place, it can make a heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven.” Where do you want to live? This is what we can control; this is what we can work to change, so say our great masters.
Understanding that we have within us the capacity for great joy in this moment is a profoundly liberating and inspiring realization. That doesn’t mean it is easy to do but we can begin the process. All achievement takes time and energy, and any learning curve usually begins with great effort but when we persist and insist we can do this, we can and usually do succeed.
“Make every day of the New Year a better day than the previous one” – P.Y.
“Make every day of the New Year a better day than the previous one for greater effort to succeed in business, family happiness, and increasing the ever-new joy-contact of God in meditation. The old year has gone, but the New Year is full of treasures for you to use.” ―Paramhansa Yogananda in Inner Culture magazine, January 1937
Thank You God for everything.
Have a blessed and healthy New Year,
Nayaswami Uma
