A Message for the New Millennium

 from Swami Nishchalananda Saraswati

I would like to give everyone my best wishes for the year 2000. May it not only usher in the new millennium, but a New Era and a better world where there is less poverty and suffering, greater happiness, social justice and education on a wider scale. May it also herald greater Spiritual Awareness world-wide.
Despite the negative present-day trends such as excessive mental and emotional stress, over population, over-use of chemicals in food production and pollution, one of the distinctive features of the last 30 years is the tremendous number of people all over the world who are actively pursuing a Spiritual path using Yoga and other disciplines. This is a significant counter-current to the prevalent materialistic vision of existence. May this movement towards Spiritual Awareness continue to grow in the New Era.

The great Yogis of India had a profound vision of four main factors which are necessary for the fulfilment of human life. First of all there is Kama the need of each of us to fulfil our personal needs and desires as individuals. This is essential, no doubt, for each of us but nowadays it is over-emphasised and has become almost the sole raison d’être of life so that all too often our lives are dedicated to the satisfaction of the ego. Secondly, there is Artha the need of each person to have sufficient wealth to live, to eat, to feed the family and to pay the bills. It is said (rightly in my opinion) that if any person suffers because of material want, we are all diminished. Clearly these two factors - Kama and Artha - dominate modern society. On one level this is fine since more and more people are enabled to fulfil their lives on a personal level, thereby creating more and more wealth to share around. Providing we don’t ruin the planet that we live on, may this process continue into the next millennium. But, to provide balance and a wider perspective, it is important - indeed it may even be essential if we are to survive - that the human qualities of Compassion and Wisdom become more prevalent. These qualities can only arise if the remaining two factors are incorporated into human affairs.

The third is Dharma which, though variously translated, means in a wider sense ‘doing things which encourage the inflow of Spiritual Awareness.’ Under this heading come religions which, if correctly understood and practised, are intended to do exactly this. Dharma also means helping others in any way that is appropriate; this benefits both the giver and the receiver for it is in helping others that we ultimately help ourselves. Yoga practice helps us to start to tune in with Dharma. In fact, understanding Dharma and applying it in our lives, is a fundamental part of Yoga. May the New Era usher in a wider practice of Dharma so that we may all benefit, including our children, animals and the health of our planet.

The fourth factor, hardly considered at all in the aspirations of modern wo/man and society, is Moksha realisation of one’s Spiritual Nature. According to the ancient Rishis and Seers, and according to Yoga, unless a person realises that they are something more than the body and mind - that fundamentally their deepest Essence is embedded in the bed-rock of Consciousness or Underlying Intelligence - then their life is not completely fulfilled. Yoga offers us the way to get in touch with our Essential Being. And when we realise our own Spiritual Nature, then we know that the same Nature also lies at the root of every other human being who is alive, who has lived and who ever will live, as well as all living creatures and even all material objects. From then on, our attitude to others cannot be the same. This engenders Wisdom and Compassion we start to care for others and indeed all things. If on our death bed, we have fulfilled all four factors in our life, then we can die happily knowing that we have done everything that needs to be done.

As we move into this new millennium, may more and more people practise Yoga and other mystical systems, thereby helping to bring all four factors into our lives. In this way we can truly know what it is to be a human being and to realise the potential that exists in being human. Each individual will benefit and, in turn, the whole world. So, despite the turbulence of the modern era, I am optimistic ….. if we bring the four factors Kama, Artha, Dharma and Moksha into our lives then we can indeed create heaven on earth.

The coming new millennium also makes me think of the flow of time. According to Yoga, the present moment is far more important than the past and the future. It is the present moment that is pregnant with future possibilities and can usher in Awareness and Transcendental Vision. For Awareness can take place neither in the past nor the future: it is either Here and Now, or it is never.

On the Spiritual path, time is both important and not important. Time is important in that NOW is the time to start, or to persevere, with one’s Yoga practice NOT tomorrow, when one retires, or when one has time, but NOW. In a wider sense, however, time is not important at all, in that what we are on a Spiritual level, is beyond time. So we have plenty of time no need to hurry, BUT we should start NOW. This is a paradox, but then life is a paradox.

During the time of the changeover to the third millennium, I was in the Ashram. It seemed to be the ideal place to be in the Present moment, taking stock of the past and looking towards the future. It was a time to meditate and to reflect.

On January 5th, I went to South India for 2 months. I stayed at Satyananda Tapovanam, a beautiful Ashram in the middle of a 25-acre coconut grove, just 25 km. outside Bangalore. Run by Purna Bodha and his family (old friends whom I have known for 25 years or more), it resonates with Peace and Harmony. I will be back in Mandala Yoga Ashram in early March.

This planet, and everything on it, is a grand project of Existence let us play our part with heart, with openness, with Compassion and with Wisdom. May your Heart and Being (and mine!) be more and more open to That Intelligence which exists, has always existed and which will always exist That which underlies all of us and all things in the universe.

Best wishes, Swami Nishchalananda.