A New ‘YOU’ in the New Year

Here are 10 concepts from India representing the power of universal spirituality which can help you realize your personal development goals this year!

1. Atman (Manobuddhyahaṅkāra cittāni nāhaṃ from Shankaracarya’s Nirvana Shatakam)

You are not the mind or the body. You are not your thoughts, feelings, ideas, labels, concepts, memories, identities. These are mental objects that arise and fade within you - the Atman (Soul). Entanglement within the mesh of these mental objects is what creates attachment, desire, and suffering.

You are the Witness of all mental and physical objects. This realization is central to your development so that you don’t get caught up in your thoughts and emotions and can then create enough distance between them and your true Self (Atman — the awareness or Consciousness within) in order to become more clearly identified with your true Self.

Identification with your true Self (self-realization) leads to freedom from suffering. Simply remind yourself that you are not the mind or the body and the deeper awareness of who you are will dawn.

As an example, realize when anger arises within you, that it will come and go. It is not you and does not become you. You are the being that witnesses the anger coming and going. You are the being that is present before, during, and after the anger has risen and set. That being is untainted and unaffected by the anger. This realization allows you to distance yourself from the object that is the nature of anger which decreases your suffering on the basis of that anger. 

2. Yoga

The Hindu concept of yoga means Union with the Divine, with everyone around you, with all of creation. We are at our essence already one but have lost that understanding through becoming entangled with self, mind, ego, body, world and all of their myriad combinations. We seek oneness through mental, emotional, and physical means with the world, its objects, people, and concepts. However, none of those external pursuits can deliver the oneness that we seek, which breeds anxiety, depression, anger, suffering. True oneness is simply a matter of realization which we can arrive at through spiritual means — the variety of “yogas” (meditation, self-enquiry, devotion, selfless action) prescribed in the Gita and other Hindu texts. All of these yogas work, often in combination with each other, the only critical step for you to take is to try one.

3. Nishkama Karma

One of the most central concepts of Hinduism is that one can achieve oneness with the Divine and all of creation through the actions that one undertakes in their daily life. These actions if undertaken in the right way (nishkama karma) can become the means of freedom and self-realization. Nishkama karma, which means action without selfish desire, is any action which is done without concern for the fruit of the action (outcome), with detachment (vairagya or anasakti), with equanimity (samatvam), with the intention of love and friendliness to all, and ultimately undertaken with the clarity of what is the right thing to do (dharma) rather than following one’s likes and dislikes — all concepts elaborated on further below. Nishkama karma is actually a deceptively “simple” concept at its essence — have clarity on what is to be done, focus on doing it well, put in the effort to do it, and do it with the right intention!

4. Abhyasa

Abhyasa is practice and effort. Perhaps the most central to any physical, psychological, or spiritual discipline, nothing can improve or develop without application of effort or the ongoing steady determined practice to bring something new into reality. In the spiritual context, it’s perhaps more accurate to say practice letting go of an old habit in order to let a new one emerge. Spiritual discipline has a tendency to come across as “too extreme” or “difficult” for the average person. This is the context within abhyasa becomes even more important to emphasize for no matter how difficult the path, it is a steady determined effort and ongoing practice which helps one make considerable progress on the spiritual journey and become transformed along the way.

5. Dvandva Atita

In the journey of life, we are often beset by thinking in terms of opposites — good and bad, likes and dislikes, success, and failure. These opposites then lead to certain behaviors — desire for what we perceive as good, hatred of what we perceive as bad, attachment to that we like, aversion to that we dislike, identity with what we think of as success, and anger with an outcome we think of as failure. In personal development, as also with spiritual growth, we start to realize that these opposites are states of mind and reactions to situations in the world which don’t actually carry any such inherent meaning. Resisting the compulsion to label situations with these polarizing terms allows one to emerge out of one’s judgments, avoid the further entanglement within thoughts and emotions, and the opportunity to accept life as it is by rising above the opposites (dvandva atita).

6. Yajna

Yajna in a broad sense is sacrifice. This concept describes one key mechanism by which we transform actions which we do for self-gain into actions which are undertaken for others, for the community, for humanity, or for the Divine. By the simple act of dedicating an action to a higher level than the individual self, one can spiritualize the action which thereby brings out more compassion and love.

7. Gunateet

“Gunas” form a core part of Hindu concepts and are mentioned in several different Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas, Vedanta, Ayurveda, Yoga shastras, and of course the Bhagawad Gita. “Gunateet” as a term defines someone who is beyond Gunas, which can only be a Divine being or God because God is beyond material energy or “maya”. But as a concept we can think of this as a person who has been able to manage and master their Gunas. In the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gita, we get the opportunity to learn in detail about Gunas or our innate qualities. Everything in nature is believed to be made up of three fundamental qualities or Gunas– “Sattvic Guna” (quality of clarity), “Rajasic Guna” (quality of disturbance), and “Tamasic Guna” (quality of inertia). This concept allows us to understand and become aware of the primary qualities of nature “prakriti” of which we are a part. And as we learn to transcend our Gunas, we are essentially in that higher consciousness state where we are no longer the ‘doer’ of our actions, but we become the ‘seer’ of our actions instead. This concept thus allows us to create distance from the hardship or suffering which is prevalent in this material world.

8. Dharma

The term “Dharma” is a multi-faceted term and can be translated to include spiritual and religious protocols, social order and laws, one’s duty or inherent nature, and even moral codes and ethics. Dharma is the Hindu concept that gives meaning and purpose to our actions and literally translates to mean ‘to uphold, to support.’ It is one of the four pillars of the concept of “Purushartha” or the reason for human pursuits as explained by Hinduism. You know Dharma is present when there is less chaos and suffering in the environment around you and those around you are peaceful, content, and happy. It is being clear on what is the right thing to do and doing it in accordance with your innate nature “samskara” guided by dharma.

Dharma can also be thought of as a system of self-governance or way of living based on a person’s chosen ethical and moral code. When we think of this individualist approach to our life, based on our individual strengths, nature and qualities, this term can be aptly described as “swadharma.” This concept becomes important as we undertake actions in pursuit of our goals. When our goals are guided by dharma, we find more success (because we are less conflicted about what is to be done, and less resistant to what needs to be done), are more productive in society, are driven by a sense of purpose leading to the attainment and spread of happiness and joy. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita, adopting one’s swadharma, leads to effortless actions because they come naturally and don’t seem as complex.

9. Anasakti

“Anasakti” or nonattachment, is another interesting Hindu concept to help you successfully navigate through the course of your life. The relationship of Anasakti and human happiness and well-being have been a subject of much research. Studies showcased that anasakti yogic practitioners experienced better quality of life than the regular population. Mahatma Gandhi is a prime example. “If you abandon attachment to the fruits of your actions, if you are ever content, if you consecrate the fruits of your actions and the actions themselves to the Lord, you will attain emancipation. Actions will not bind you because you are not doing anything, although you go through the motions of doing something.” This is anasakti yoga according to Bhagawad Gita, the sacred Hindu text. So, to enjoy the benefits of this concept one does not need to become an anasakti master, but merely practice self-awareness to break the chains of your attachment and learn to let go.

10. Samatvam

“Samatvam” is the Hindu concept of being the ‘same,’ ‘equal,’ amidst the dualities of life, such as love and hate, pleasure and pain, praise, and blame. It is the acceptance of the imperfections and letting go of the need for perfection in interactions in life. It is the idea of not taking things personally. It is being even minded in all situations, and not allowing anything to create a disturbance within you. It is the management of our physical and emotional environment using an ‘inside-out’ approach. So, if you wish to successfully navigate the dualities in your life, embrace the imperfections of this world that have shaped you into who we are today, and celebrate these imperfections as another facet of you and your amazing life.

Summary

Discipline, sacrifice, effort, practice, duty are all terms that everyone realizes are important, but no one really wants to inculcate in themselves. Our upbringing is such that we seek a path which is based on gratification, pleasure, comfort, ease, and avoidance of pain or hardship. The value of these concepts as illustrated here is to show how they connect to each other and enable transcendence of one’s material, mental, emotional, psychological entanglements into a spiritual realm which allows one to overcome suffering and live one’s life full of love, joy, and bliss.

Please share your thoughts with us as well as your ideas for future topics in this series.