A New Year and more of prosperity and peace

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Each New Year, we wish others happiness and prosperity. What really is the sign of prosperity? There are several - a smile, contentment, freedom, the willingness to share, fearlessness and the trust and confidence that you will get what you need in life.

Welcome the New Year with a genuine smile. As you flip the calendar, keep flipping your mind as well. Don’t fill your future dates with past events. Learn and unlearn from the past, and move on.

You want to be free of greed, hatred, jealousy and all such imperfections. Understand that negative emotions are due to the past. Do not let the past affect your life in the present. If you cannot forgive the past, then your future will be miserable. This New Year make up with someone with whom you are not on good terms. Start life afresh.

In the New Year, wish peace and prosperity for all. Do selfless service. Live your life well. Realise that your priority is to check violence in the world, free of domestic and societal violence. Make a resolution to do more good, help people in need and bring solace to those suffering.

Whenever you are useful to people, merit will never be lost. Any good gesture or action of yours will always come back to you. Today you have the whole world for a family. That’s what you need to feel, that everybody is part of your own family. Take responsibility. Then there is no suffering.

The spiritual dimension of life brings a great sense of belongingness, responsibility, compassion and caring for the whole world, for all life. In its truest form spirituality helps us overcome narrow boundaries of caste, creed, religion and nationality and give you a broader awareness of life everywhere.

• Open your eyes and see how much you have been given. 
• Focus on what you have rather than what you don’t have. 
• The more grateful you are, the more will be given to you. 

Conversely, the more you complain, the more will be taken away from you. This is what Jesus Christ meant when he said, “Those who have will be given more; those who don’t give, and even what they have will be taken away from them.”
With gratitude, reach out and help those who are less endowed. You will get much contentment when you serve selflessly. Then you realise that your problems aren’t so big after all. The biggest reason for mental depression is the constant refrain of the mind that says, “What about me?” This is a sign of lack of prosperity.

Become free like a bird. Open your wings and learn to fly. This is something you have to experience within yourself. If you think you are in bondage, you will remain bound here. Be free. When will you experience freedom? After you die? Become free right now. Sit down and become contented. Spend some time in meditation and satsang. This not only calms your mind, your inner self becomes strong enough to deal with challenges.

When the mind relaxes, the intellect becomes sharp. When the mind is loaded with ambitions and feverish desires, then the intellect loses its keenness. When intellect and observation are not sharp, life does not express itself fully. Ideas don’t flow properly and abilities diminish day by day. With this understanding, you step out of your narrow confines and that will solve many of the problems in your life. When you are centred, there is happiness always. With this calmness, talents arise naturally. Intuition comes, beauty comes, peace comes; Love springs up. Prosperity comes.

by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar                                                                                                               source here

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• the Precious Gift

Poila Baisakh: Global Tag to Bengali Festival

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Poila Baisakh is a major celebration and the first day of Baisakh remains a holiday in Kolkata.

The first month of the Bengali calendar, Baishakh, marks the beginning of the crop cycle in Bengal. The first day of this month is called Poila Baisakh is celebrated as the Bengali new year. Chances are, if you step into a shop in Calcutta on this day, you'll be offered sweets and maybe the odd gift or two. Traders start the new year by inaugurating new accounting books.

It is considered the most auspicious month for marriage, the most auspicious month for undertaking any business venture and it is also the month when all agricultural production process begins. Bengali’s think that any child born in this month would acquire all the qualities of being a prodigy. No wonder, the great Rabindranath Tagore, was born in this month. Rabindranath was born on the 25th of Baisakh.

Celebration
On that day, people wear new dress and go about socialising. The houses are thoroughly cleaned and freshly painted. People decorate their houses to welcome the New Year and the season of flowers. Women make elaborate rangolis on the ground near the entrance to their house. Beautiful designs are drawn with the help of a paste made of rice flour and rows and rows of houses with intricate patterns in front of them make a pretty picture. Cultural programms are held, sweets are distributed and greeting are exchanged.

Special prayers are held for the welfare of the family. Procession called ‘Prabhat Pheri’ is held early in the morning to welcome the New Year. Women dress in white saris with red borders while men wear ‘dhoti’ (loincloth) and ‘kurta’ (shirt) to take part in the procession. Cultural programs are held.
In global terms its a Bengali New Year and just like Valentines Day, Mothers Day

, Friendship Day and ofcourse X Mas and New Year. Every other retail outlet seem to be making the most of it.
While some have made a mix and match of tradition and change, others have caught the mood of the times with band music, CD launch etc. And not to be missed are the lavish food fares at star hotels with a mad rush for bookings.

Celebrities add to the fun, say for instance Manthan invited Chiranjeet and Papiya Adhikari, to flag off their specail Poila Baisakh spread. Tanushree Shankar, who participated in one such event at a city mega store, believes there's nothing wrong in the new trend.

"Its one way to keep the spirit alive. In an age where the youth identify with glamour and glitz we must cater to their tastes. Its one way to ensure their involvement in Bengali festivals just like Valentines Day

or X Mas."

Baisakhi : A Day For Self-renewal

Image via Wikipedia BAISHAKHI on April 13 is celebrated throughout India in many ways. In the Himalayan region, it is also called `Baishakh Sankranti'. It is observed even in far-off Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, where it is called Songkaran and celebrated on April 14 as the Water Festival. Children visit their parents and elders and offer scented water in homage to obtain their blessings for the New Year. Baishakhi traditionally marks the end of the month long `New Year' celebrations of the Hindu Calendar. The new `Samvatsar', an astrological forecast of things to come during the New Year based on position of the different planets, and the culmination of Navratras with the birth of Lord Rama, are the two main religious aspects of these celebrations. In northern India, Baishakhi also marks the harvesting season and village folk celebrate the occasion by holding community-wide festivities - sports, fairs, offering of sweets and community feasts, etc. In Punjab, Baishakhi celebrations encompass both the religious and cultural sentiments in equal measure. It was on this day over 300 years ago, that the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singhji Maharaj, established the `Khalsa' order. The word `Sikh' means disciple and all the followers of the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and subsequent nine Gurus, were called Sikhs or followers. They included both Hindus and Muslims. The fundamental message of 'universal brotherhood' was propagated by Nanak Devji in a unique manner by insisting on the triple principles of Seva, Pangat and Sangat. All the followers were to share in community service (Seva), meals (Pangat) and prayers (Sangat). All were equal before the 'Order'. Even the king had to share Seva and Pangat before meeting the Guru in Sangat. The teachings of the Sikh Gurus were so simple in comparison to the complicated ritualistic orders of that time that they appealed to the masses far and wide.   Read more at Editorial in TOI