TYS January Newsletter

WELCOME JANUARY.

Musing of the Month

The difference between an ordinary person and a sage is that the sage is strong from within and does not allow anyone to affect his mind and emotions. The Buddha demonstrated this in the village of Rajgrahi after he left his throne, renounced his kingdom, and went to that small village to perform austerities. Begging helps one to reduce the ego, so he went there to beg for alms. He was a prince, but he wanted to be the world's simplest man.

At that time there were thousands of monks in Rajgrahi. They would stand outside someone's door and chant, "Narayana, Han," which means "Remember God's name." And when villagers heard that, they knew someone had come to the door for bhiksha (alms). But almost every third person was a monk, and it became impossible for the villagers to feed them all. One day the Buddha went begging with Ananda, his closest disciple, who used to accompany him. The Buddha always stood quietly outside, but when he arrived at one house, the mother became very angry.

"You are a healthy man, a strong man, a handsome man, standing at our door," she shouted, "and I don't have that much food to give. I have already given away food to many other monks. What shall I give you? I'm only a poor lady. Go away! Don't you have any other place to go?!"

The Buddha smiled gently. Then she said, "Wait, I will give you bhiksha," and she picked up the filth from her child, the stool, and offered it to the Buddha, saying, "This is what you deserve!"

The Buddha merely smiled and said simply, "Mother, you can keep that. I don't need it."

Ananda, however, was very angry and shouted, "Woman, you are insulting my lord and master; I'll kill you!"

But the Buddha said to Ananda, "Stop! She wants to give me something, but if I don't need it, I don't take it. So why are you angry?"

H.H. Sri Swami Rama // The Art of Joyful Living

If you have not read this book, I highly recommend reading it at the beginning of each new year!

Svadhyaya Corner

Spend time during the month contemplating these questions and find time to answer them without restraint; practice being brutally honest but radically accepting with your answers.

Why do you accept anger, guilt, shame, and negativity from others?
How often do you accept others' criticism and critiques of you? Someone says, "You are worthless." How does it influence you?
How often do you accept others' praise and adoration? Someone says, "You are a great person." How does it affect you?
Do you need praise? Why?
Do you need someone to fault find with you? Why?

“The problem is you do not know yourself and, therefore, depend on the judgment of others, both "negative and "positive, to create your identity."

Thank You

As we roll into 2024, it is important to thank all of you who have supported our mission this last year. No contribution is ever too small, and I truly value everything you have done to help TYS. If it weren't for you, we would not have had the year we had. I appreciate your dedication to TYS; because of you, TYS was able to adopt three inmates, provide food, bedding, leashes, collars, and cages to a local animal sanctuary, create pollinator islands, four public kirtans, our first vegan pop-up, provide clothing on two different occasions to the YWCA, give several of Swamiji's books away to folks looking for guidance on their spiritual journey and plant our first native tree. These are a few things that TYS did this year, and it was because of YOU!

With appreciation and gratitude, without you, none of this would have happened.

Ranjani

Reflections with Kali

Another year has gone by!

On New Year’s Eve, Ranjani told me about Baby New Year and Father Time. This was a new concept to me! I read about the story and how at the end of each new year, Father Time, now the personified “grown” version of the year before, shares the wisdom he learned with Baby New Year. It tells the story of how we take the lessons we learned from the year before and “birth” our new year with our newfound knowledge.

I found this quite interesting and worth contemplating. I journaled about the lessons I learned in 2023 and considered how I wanted to birth my new year. As Ranjani told me, “now you know you are birthing or creating your 2024! It is your choice how you build it.” It reminded me of Swamiji’s quote, “you are the architect of your life.”

I have been thinking a lot about how every small decision I make leads to the goals I want to achieve. I am not going to change overnight and the life I want to create isn’t just going to spawn out of thin air! Every decision I make, every effort I put in, every day makes the goal achievable and this year I’d really like to focus on those small choices.

Happy New Year.