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february / march 2017yogajournal.com.sg3
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Stop judging, resenting
and blaming; they are
toxic to your future
The easiest and most unconscious thing to
do is to walk around judging every moment,
event and person who comes into your life. Remember that even
when you judge, you do so from your own level of awareness—
so if you want to raise that, you must turn your attention inwards,
and not outwards towards others. Impugning blame elsewhere
is an easy trap to fall into, and it ends up making you weaker and
impotent. If you truly accept the responsibilities in your life, you
spontaneously release all blame and resentments. It’s important
for you to see that holding onto some hurt or hatred that’s
caused by someone in the past will only make you their slave in
the ‘here and now’.
Look at the bright side
You have two choices in every situation—
either curse the darkness, or light a candle.
Choose the more positive attitude, always,
regardless of the situation. It comes at the
same expense as the negative thought
or choice, but with extremely different
consequences. One produces stress and the
other releases it. Remember that if you keep
your face to the sunshine, you cannot see the
shadows.Let your passions
lead your life
You were born to share with the rest
of the world what you love to do
and do best. So do so! Put what you
love first, above all. Follow what you
love and remember that love never
considers fear. When you love what
you do, you naturally get better at it and eventually excel
at the task. You are also happy doing it, which is more than
can be said for the majority of people who work. With love
as your guiding light, your success in life is assured because
you will enjoy both happiness and success.Count your Blessings
We frequently tell ourselves the story of what we lack,
what others have that we don’t, what we missed, of
opportunities that got away. But you can’t be happy if
you spend time focusing on what you should have,
would have, or could have done in the past. Instead,
begin every morning by consciously counting your
blessings, and recognizing the fact that if you’re
reading this magazine, you are in a better position
than the majority of our world. Stay focused on your
full-ness, not your empty-ness. Stay focused on what’s
good in your life, and work to make the rest better.Be action oriented
and take baby steps
Wisdom is meaningful only if it is
followed up with action. To learn how
to swim, you must get wet. Don’t be
too concerned about how much there
is to do, or how big some of the tasks
seem, just do what you can do. Take
baby steps and get one thing done at
a time, again and again. Just do what’s in your power,
and brush aside all other concerns. Remember what the
Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, said, ‘The journey of a
thousand miles begins with a single step’. Wisdom lays
the foundation, but it is action that finally creates a better
life and future.Meditation and wisdom are
the foundations of the ancient
wisdom of the Upanishads
(also known as the Vedanta).
Starting from the sages of the
Upanishads and down through
the centuries, the enlightened
have spoken about the
importance of meditation to live
a happy and peaceful life.Invest in meditation, joy and
awareness—because those are
truly the best gifts you can give
yourself in 2017.Vikas Malkani is one of Asia’s leading teachers of
meditation, a best-selling author and the founder of
SoulCentre, a premier centre for Meditation, Mindfulness
and Stress Management in Singapore. http://www.soulcentre.org