Looking back, looking ahead

Any reason is a good reason to celebrate for celebration is the nature of our Spirit. New year is a time when the spirit of celebration engulfs the whole world. This is also an opportunity to reflect on the year gone by and take stock of what lessons we learnt. In life, things are to be learnt and forgotten – learnt so that you do not repeat the same mistakes and forgotten so that they do not leave you traumatized.

We began the year on a very sad note with the Nirbhaya incident. The whole atmosphere in the country was that of disbelief and anger. Although this year too had its share of tragedies – both natural and man-made, there were many positives as well. Many thought that the wave against corruption that arose in the country two years ago ended as a lost cause. But that wave has sustained and become a genuine collective resolve to build a better India. The credit for this goes to the youth of our country. The Lokpal Bill that has been passed, although not perfect, is a step in the right direction. The high voter turnout in state assembly polls last month is also a very encouraging sign and shows that we have woken up as a nation. At the same time, a lot needs to be done. The most immediate task at hand is ensuring that everybody around us is registered for voting before the general elections in 2014.

People ask me very often how I see the future. And I say that the future is for them to build, however they want it. The unwise regret the past, think the future is destiny and are miserable in present. The wise see their past as destiny, the future as free will and are happy in the present.

However significant the events of the past year were at the time, looking back, you cannot see them all as anything but a dream. Reflecting on these events, what stands out is the impermanent nature of all things. Events are like stones and pebbles in the great river of time which keeps flowing unabated.

Just like we live in the outer world of events and circumstances, we also live in the inner world of emotions and feelings, which we are not always aware of. Meditation is the best tool to wipe your mind clean off all past impressions that weigh you down. The distance between the outer and the inner worlds is just the blink of an eye.

Yoga is the skill of keeping attention on the inner world while acting in the outer. When you are lost in the outside world, there is disharmony in the inner and life is like a war. When you are established in the inner world, there is clarity in the outer and life becomes a game.