On New Year’s eve, take a piece of paper and note down point by point, the habits that we find in ourselves which are negative and need to be overcome. Note them down and, as you wake up to a new dawn, go through this again and begin to implement ways and means to get free of them. It can be done!

One of the best resolutions to make for oneself and for the world at large, is to say that from today, from this New Year, I will not only take care of myself, but I will also, however little it may be, take care of a less fortunate human being.

The straight and narrow path, so difficult to walk on, is what the Upanishads call shurasya dhara, walking on the edge of a razor! And yet, it’s only facing this and leading life dangerously that one makes quantum leaps into greater dimensions, a better life, a better human being.

Whenever I think of preparing for a new day, for a new year, leaving behind the old, I am always reminded of the cry of John the Baptist, who declared, ‘Voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye, the way of the Lord! Make his path straight!’ 25 Dec May the Christmas spirit not just be with us during this season but be a part of our every breath. May the love, joy & peace that we experience, be a part of us all through life. 26 Dec If you have a healthy body, you have a healthy mind, then you can meditate and move forward. 27 Dec The Gita is meant for applying the principles in daily life. If you cannot, there is no point in reading the Gita. It is not just theory, it is a practical text on how to move forward. 28 Dec Without vairagya and viveka, it is not possible to explore the Supreme Being.

A yogi is not affected by pleasure, pain, praise or blame. Such a person free from pride and delusion, who therefore is not attached to pride or to delusion, is absorbed in his spiritual pursuits, free from the desires of the world. 16 Dec The mind is part of Prakriti, thought is also a part of it. That which is the Atman, is beyond ordinary thought, is the witness of all thought, but not involved in it. 17 Dec According to Shankara, when the Jiva sheds all its conditioning, there is only the Supreme Being, nothing else is left. 18 Dec Water is in the sea, in the river, in the pond, in our swimming pool and also in a small bowl. But you cannot run a ship in the bowl of water which we are keeping on our table. According to Ramanuja, that is the difference between Jiva and Eshwara. 19 Dec The whole teaching of Gita is also about different lives. One life you go, another life you come back, and the ultimate is when one is free of this cycle of birth and death. 20 Dec Even the striving yogi, till he reaches that goal does not understand that the Atman within is free of all this, though it witnesses everything. So, the Gita says : Move forward and then from the particular human being in the Jivatma, it comes to the universe. 21 Dec Viveka is the differentiation between what is real and what is unreal, what is permanent and what is temporary. 22 Dec When one understands what is temporary and what is permanent, then one discards the temporary and moves towards that which is permanent. This is called Vairagya. 23 Dec The only way to get rid of negativity is to bring in positivity. You can’t remove negativity by keeping on thinking about it. You can replace it with positive thinking.

According to the Gita, attaining the eternal state is not done by theoretically understanding the whole map, but by freeing oneself from the opposites.

The mind cannot stay without some attachment. So, attach yourself to the higher being with the thought- ‘I surrender to the supreme being.’

Our minds and our sense organs are so involved in this world that we miss the essence of where they derive their power to function.

Fear and depression are of no use to a human being. At turning points in life, have faith in the inner reality in your heart and move forward.

Sattva guna is when the mind is settled, is quiet and calm no matter what activity you are involved in, when it cannot think of evil about anybody, and can recognise only the divinity in all living beings.

Sound is the Shabda brahman. It is the sound that takes you from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Krishna says, among the Vedas I am the Sama Veda because it’s only a heart open to music that is open to feelings and emotions that can understand the message of the Gita.