Sri Chinmoy: From the spiritual point of view, the new year has a specific significance. On the eve of the new year, a new consciousness dawns on earth. God once again inspires each human being with new hope, new light, new peace and new bliss.

Each new year is like a new rung on the ladder of consciousness which we have to climb up. When the new year dawns, we have to make ourselves conscious of the fact that we have to transcend our present capacity and present achievement. When we have that kind of firm determination, God showers His choicest Blessings upon our devoted heads. God says, “As the new year dawns, a new consciousness is dawning within you. Run towards the destined Goal.” The new year energises us, encourages us and inspires us to run towards that ultimate Reality.

Every day, when morning dawns, we should feel that we have something new to accomplish. We are running and every day we are advancing. If we are aspiring, we are always in the process of running. When we start our journey in the morning, we should feel that today is the continuation of yesterday’s journey; we should not take it as a totally new beginning. And tomorrow we should feel that we have travelled still another mile. Every day we should feel that we have travelled another mile. Then, we know one day that we will reach our Goal. Even if our speed decreases, we have to continue running and not give up on the way. When we reach our Goal we will see that it was worth the struggle.

There are many things that we want to do, that we want to achieve. But unfortunately we have not been able to achieve them. Why? Because our aspiration is not intense, our determination is not firm, our cry, our inner cry, is not genuine. Yet there is no end to the progress we can make, and each new year comes and stands in front of us to remind us of that very fact: that there is no end to our progress, both inner progress and outer progress.

Each year has a soul of its own. A year also has a body, vital, mind and heart. Even the astrologers can tell something about the soul of a year, just as they can very often tell about the soul of a country. When a year ends, the soul of that particular year goes back to the soul’s region. Again, if another year comes with a soul similar to the soul of a previous year, then this departed soul may offer all its possibilities and potentialities to the soul of the present year. The soul of the past year does not actually enter into the earth plane; it only offers its potentialities and capacities to the present year because it sees the similarity.

What can we expect from tomorrow? We expect that which we do not have right now: freedom from bondage, freedom from limitation, freedom from disease, freedom from death. Our expectation is not enough. In addition to our expectation, we must cultivate deep within us the firm determination that we shall have it, that we are bound to have all these divine qualities.

How can we transcend ourselves? We can transcend ourselves the moment we feel that self-realisation or the conquest of the self is our birthright, our divine heritage.  We must always feel that we are children of the Supreme. We are growing together, we are fulfilling the Supreme together. The Supreme is entering into us to inspire us to dive into the deepest, to fly into the highest, to run towards the farthest.

I always say, “The past is dust.” Once again I repeat, “The past is dust.” Why? The past has not given us what we have been striving for. So the past is of no use. It is the present, and the golden future which enters into the present, which make us feel what we are going to be—nay, what we truly are. We are not children of the past, but children of the glorious future.

The new year comes
To give you another opportunity,
Another hope.
But the new year will come and go.
So begin your self-transformation-play
Immediately!

Begin your new life
In the New Year
With tremendous enthusiasm,
Tremendous determination
And tremendous self-giving.

Get Up!

Get Up, O my body, get up! Don’t sleep. You have slept for a long time. Don’t sleep anymore. Are you not ashamed of your life? Don’t sleep. The goal is far, very far.

O my vital, stand up, stand up! You have been sitting for a long time. It is high time for you to stand up. Stand up! Are you not ashamed of your life? The goal is far, very far. Don’t sit anymore. Stand up.

O my mind, run, run! You have been standing in one place for a long time. The goal is far, very far. You have to run towards the destination. Are you not ashamed of your life, standing in one place when you know perfectly well that the goal is a far cry? Run, run towards the destination! Don’t stand in one place. Run towards the destined goal.

O my heart, run the fastest! Are you not ashamed of your life? You are supposed to run the fastest, but you are running slowly, very slowly. The goal is still a far cry. Are you not ashamed of your life? Slowly you are running. Are you not ashamed of your speed? From now on, you have to run the fastest, O my heart. Then only will you be satisfied when you reach your goal. If you run slowly, it will take you millions of years. Also, while running slowly you may lose your enthusiasm one day and give up on your way to your destination. Therefore, run the fastest, O my heart, and reach the destination. See the face of your goal. Become one, inseparably one, with your goal.

O body of mine, O vital of mine, O mind of mine, O heart of mine, from now on feel that each moment you lose here on earth, each moment you neglect, means a year of delay, a year of frustration, a year of failure, has been added to your life. Therefore, get up, O my body; stand up, O my vital; run, O my mind; run the fastest, O my heart! Each second you can either build a new life of hope, promise, realisation and perfection or you can destroy what you have right now in a very small measure: aspiration. Do not destroy your aspiration; only build the edifice of your hope-light, promise-height, realisation-oneness and perfection-delight.