Resolutions 2010

New Year's Resolutions

Are you looking for more serenity and happiness? Are you hoping to add more inner peace to your existence in the new year 2010?

The Sri Chinmoy Centres in various towns and cities in the U.S. offer free classes in meditation - in many cases on a regular ongoing schedule. Please visit our U.S. meditation section to learn how to sign up for classes near you: Meditation Class Information - in 24 regions across the U.S.

Did you make a New Year's resolution to increase your fitness? The Sri Chinmoy Centres in various towns and cities in the U.S. host running events - from 2 mile races all the way up to awe-inspiring multi-day ultra events. Please visit the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team page to find out about running events near you: Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team Race Information

Are you hoping to incorporate a vegetarian lifestyle going forward into the New Year? The Sri Chinmoy Centre members eat a vegetarian diet and in several cities you can find restaurants and cafes operated by students of Sri Chinmoy. These restaurants serve tasty and healthy food to help you reach this New Year's resolution:Cafes and More

You can also find a wealth of inspiration about the New Year along with a spiritual approach to New Year's resolutions in the full-text online library of Sri Chinmoy's writings. Here is just a sampling of the jewels of wisdom to be found in Sri Chinmoy's books.

The following questions were answered on 12 and 13 January 1993 at the Insular Hotel in Davao.

Niriha: When I make a resolution, how can I have the determination to follow through with it?

Sri Chinmoy: Is there anybody on earth who does not have that problem? My older brother Mantu's resolution is that he will never, never read the newspaper; he feels it is a waste of time. Every year his New Year's resolution is that he will not read the newspaper because it is all falsehood. Then early in the morning a friend or relative will stop by and say, "Did you hear such and such?" That is enough for him! Then my brother goes to the library and spends an hour and a half reading the newspaper.

You can keep your resolutions only by not seeing the past. Let us say you have failed to keep a particular resolution many, many times. Do not think of how many times you have failed; that has no value. Do not feel that you have been studying and failing this particular subject for many years and that the teacher is giving you chance after chance to study it again. No, you have to feel that you are learning a completely new subject. The subject you are studying, which is self-discipline, you are starting right now for the first time. If you can feel this, then the number of times that you have failed will go away from your mind. Otherwise, each time you fail, the depression, frustration or sadness that you feel becomes a heavy load, an elephant that you have to carry on your shoulders. Look at how many heavy loads you have been carrying around in your mind all these years! That is one of the reasons you are finding it difficult to keep your resolutions.

Another thing you have to know is that our determination to keep a resolution never depends on personal effort. We can say we will do it by hook or by crook. But even that hook and crook will only accomplish one per cent; for the rest we have to depend on God's Grace. And if we are sincere, even that one per cent that represents our personal effort we will say is all due to God's Grace. If we set the alarm clock in order to get up early in the morning to pray and meditate, then we have to feel that God's Grace is operating in and through the alarm. It is also due to God's Grace that we were inspired to set the alarm the previous night. Here God's Grace is coming in the form of inspiration and wisdom. Everything positive that we do comes from a higher Source, which is God's Grace and God's Compassion. An athlete may feel that if he practises very hard, then he will become the world's fastest runner or strongest boxer. But it is not like that. There are many athletes who perhaps practise more than Carl Lewis. So how is it that he is becoming number one? It is because God's Grace is operating in and through him, and he is more receptive than others. No amount of practice is enough without God's Grace...

Excerpt from My Heart Shall Give A Oneness-Feast by Sri Chinmoy.