.... the first monday

the last day of the year. the last monday mail of the year :-) the monday morning mail celebrates its first anniversary next week and i am probably the most surprised that its come so far :-) "why do you write these emails" asked kiruthiga and i have no real answer! began on the mistaken notion that laxmi may be lonely in jharia and a regular email may cheer her up (turned out she was more like the queen of jharia :-) got on that crazy train and haven't been able to get off! and an year has come to pass:-)  an year has come to pass. and its been an intense year. almost every certainty i took for granted - family, friendships, institution, job, student relationships - all of them were suddenly open to question. came under an intense scrutiny and i learnt much, not all of it comforting. held the same mirror to myself and i learnt even more, and even less comforting :-) no wonder the hair's been greying so fast! another year has come to pass. and intense year it was. and in the public world outside, and in the private world within, it was a singular mantra that was resounding - not sure, not sure, not sure! and as life's mysteries go. the deeper i have entered this world of not sure, the more it has liberated me. the more my assumptions and certainties have been shaken, the stronger i seem to have found myself at the end of it. lot less sure and yet lot stronger :-) and somewhere in the midst of all this have been the monday morning mails. neither monday, nor morning, nor email! and yet somehow a monday morning email :-) they've been mostly a spontaneous flow written in quiet moments. and its been the search for that quiet peace that has determined which day is going to be the monday of the week :-) i have no real clue what i will write, and i probably read each mail many more times than any of you. "now what did he write?!" the most joyous part of the mail of course is the search for the poem. have discovered some gems over the year :-) and for those gems. and for patiently bearing with all of the writer's idiosyncrasies. and for being the collective inspiration for the monday morning mails, a deep deep deep thank you. cannot speak "for sure" about your lives, but these mails have made my life richer :-) they are my reminder to me about all i celebrate about this life  :-) its the end of one year, and the beginning of another. and arbitrary as these divisions in time may be, they have real influences on our lives. and every new day, every new year is yet another opportunity to count our blessings, and share them too :-) the poem for this moment is one of my favourite benedictions - from one of my favourite swamis :-) and its the poem i invariably tun too each "new year" :-)  "My Prayer for You" May God bless you all with health, long life, peace, prosperity  and spiritual enlightenment. May you all walk in the Light of God, with God, with your hand in his, with the whole of you in his palm. Live in God; love in God; serve God in all beings.  May that Supreme Being dwell in your eyes and in your heart,  seeing His own self in all; seeing God himself in all.  May we thus swim in the ocean of bliss. May the peace that passeth all understanding dwell in your heart,  radiate from every pore of your skin, bathing everyone who comes within  the circle of your aura with that inexpressible peace.  May harmony radiate from you,  dispelling the darkness of disharmony wherever it is found.  May bliss radiate from you, dispelling the gloom of suffering, misery,  and pain - physical, mental, moral, and spiritual. May God lead us from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to Light,  from mortality to Immortality. Assert every moment of your life: "I am the immortal Self. I am not the body.  I am not this finite, limited mind. I am the immortal  Self. May you be established in that Self-realization right  now. - Swami Venkatesananda "May you all walk in the Light of God, with God, with your hand in his, with the whole of you in his palm" what a lovely thought with which to welcome a new year:-) no matter what is happening in the world "outside", may we always walk "in the light of all that is good", and may this truly be the best year of our lives - happy new year! much love, d&s