New Year's Message 2005

On New Year’s morning, we meditated with Swamiji, after which we sang the Seven Gita Verses
(2:19 - 25) ten times. Swamiji then gave this message:

There are no words to describe that indescribable, grim tragedy, which has taken place due to the terrible earthquake, unprecedented in the history of humankind, that caused a terrible wave of the ocean, which swept away thousands and thousands of lives. At the same time, some people were sleeping and watching varieties of dreams—some joyful and some nightmares, some were sleeping in deep sleep, and some got up and began to go towards the ocean. No one among them knew. And no one knew among other existing beings in the whole world which was not affected. None had the imagination or knowledge that the wave would come and sweep away the beeches, homes, and structures constructed on the ocean shores, along with the persons who were either living there or who were touring and visiting those beautiful, beautiful places. Yet they were all swept away.

We heard the news on December 26^th, Boxing Day, that these many people have died. Since then, we are mourning and listening to the stories of how one event took place, another took place, and multiple events took place, how people have been deprived, and how people have been separated from each other. It was not known to anybody, but the news channels have been given the information that so many people have died. We mourn the lives that have been lost, and send our sympathies in the sky, in the space, to all those people who have been left without their company, who have been deprived of the joy of meeting them daily, eating with them daily, and living with them daily.

We are human beings, and this is the greatest tragedy, which is not manmade. At such tragic moments, we come to know that the collective consciousness of human beings can live life as they are living it, but that sometimes all the millions and billions of existence of human beings are helpless to save people, such as those who were destined to be washed away by that tragic wave—sent by whom? We are aware of who keeps us alive, who keeps us in good times, with whose presence we have bad times—and who remains forever. It was such a great tragedy where, within seven minutes, thousands and thousands of lives were washed away completely, and did not have the chance to make efforts; for we imagine that those many thousands of people could have remained alive and grown in that awareness which God has showered on us, so that we have become aware of the fact of the Supreme Existence. We have just sung the Seven Gita Verses ten times, where the knowledge is described of that Supreme Being, who does not fall in the category of the imagination of human beings who think that some people were born and some people have died.

Somewhere an event takes place which has not been likeable, and somewhere some events take place which are very likeable. This is the mental understanding of all human beings, with their bodies and senses, and with their ego-intellect-mind—one body the realm of which is within birth and death. Therefore, we join all those people who have very sincerely felt to mourn the lives of those people who have died and perished, because we too are human beings, we are aware of the birth situation and death situation, and we call the time of birth as happiness and the time of death as unhappiness, or very tragic.

Since our experiment, made by those people who have shared and associated with that experiment, we have come to know that there is a possibility for a human being, and for the world at large consisting of all people, to know that there exists the Supreme State of Consciousness. They can know that a human being is able to reach that height where he will take birth as it is and death as it is, he will remain aware of whatever is needed by human lives who are alive and whatever is not needed by those who have died, and will participate in the committee of human beings who are living, lively, and assisting each other.

As is the conventional habit of all the persons who are thinking and imagining that today is a new year, we would have wished such people, who are alive, a happy new year. But because of the tragic event of the death of so many lives, we remain quiet, express our mourning, and declare this day as a day of mourning and not a happy day—because we have heard, and we do not go against whatever we have heard. We have been hearing. We have ears, we have our hearts, and we have minds, and our hearts and minds are sympathetic with the whole of humanity, which today is very, very sad and unhappy. We too are not rare persons. We are equally sad and unhappy, and we mourn this day, or this event, together. And we meditate, which we have done, sending our vibrations of well-being to those who are still alive and are related to those people who have died, sending the vibrations to all the people the world over who are very much upset, sad, and unhappy, because they have not practised the science of Reality. Even though they have always been talking about the real world, reality, and the truth, but when the truth appears before them, they are very much, very much frightened and begin to live the life of fear.

I still wish all of the persons who are unhappy and sad, and who will remain unhappy for long, to know that that Awareness, which is immortal, undying, unchanging, unborn, and total peace, is not illusory. That is the Truth, and That alone exists. With these words, we are sure enough to see that their tragedy will not be a tragedy if they will come to know that the Supreme Reality is the true Self and basis of all the manifest forms which have appeared before us at this time, and of all the manifest forms which had appeared and have gone into oblivion. They have changed. Many others will come and change. But that Supreme Reality, the Supreme Being, has never, never become anything else.

So many waves may come, like the Tsunami waves. So many periods will come where dissolutions will take place. But the Life Eternal is forever immortal and blissful, Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum. Yet having known this, we use our language, we use our presence, we use our actions, we use our imagination, and we use our sympathetic hearts and minds to join with those people who are mourning. Om Shantih Shantih Shantih [Prayer for Absolute Peace]. Thank you.