New Year—New Year, New Mind
Each year there is this queer yet familiar feeling taking place in this mind as it approaches the end of the year. Do you know what it is? It is this lingering thought of “may the coming new year be a better year”. Did you ever notice this happening too? My suspicion is that it is a common idea occurring in our minds when we have the concept of a “coming new year”. Am I wrong in my assumption?
Why I find it queer is that the hope or expectation of “something better” is just a total opposite of what life is or already offering us. It is like going against the river we are in. The river is nature whilst we are not. If we could only flow along with the river, we would be shown the great nature that is taking place in us. In a certain sense, nature is benevolent whereas we are not. Life is as good as it gets, but our own meaning of good is imposing upon life.
Probably you may find what I have just said queer and there is nothing wrong with that too so long as we don’t see the bigger picture of what life is trying to teach us. In the language of my teacher, he said that the wish for things to be better is actually greed at work. Well, in the past, I just couldn’t comprehend what he said when he mentioned that such a thought is delusional by nature and is the work of greed. I couldn’t understand where he was coming from and I even questioned him silently in my mind —“but isn’t that what we are all wishing for and thus deemed “normal” and for that, what is so wrong about it?”
But over the years, I began to realize profoundly what he really meant by delusional greed. At the earlier point I was not matured enough to understand what he said but with more right understanding growing in the mind, the fact became more apparent. This thought of hope still does occur, but it is being met with the right understanding. The work of wisdom is doing a great job of exposing it.
Before I offer you the explanation of what my teacher pointed, I really wish to find out what voice appears in your head, so to speak. In a serious way, what do those thoughts really tell you? Do you ever question the thoughts? Between questioning those thoughts and what those thoughts tell you is what makes the apparent distinction between what my teacher noticed and what I thought it was. To him, we cannot get what we wish for. If we ever get it, it is due to causes and conditions. To me, I wish to get it and I want it to happen. As such, he saw clearly those thoughts are not in accordance with nature, as what comes our way is never due to our asking. For me, I am asking for it. Both of us are coming from different perspectives. He understood clearly the truth about life whilst I was blinded by what I wanted. He was wise. I was foolish. That was exactly what it was.
Fast forward to this moment: if those thoughts were to arise once again, it will be seen differently. “Wishing for a new beginning” is no longer about starting a new life, but what right attitude do we have towards life? “Beginning of a new chapter” is not so much about expecting anything new but rather learning new ways to look at happenings from the perspective of nature. And “having a better year ahead” is no longer about expecting a good life but a development towards right understanding. It is shifting from object-based expectation to subjective-based development. The quality of the mind matters more than what kind of happenings or objects are coming into our experiences. In this way, come what may, life will be lived fearlessly as the mind becomes much wiser.
May you be blessed by such wisdom. If you wish to get to know your mind better, do join us in the 2023 new workshop seasons by enrolling with WISE at www.wise.foundation.
With appreciation,
Hor Tuck Loon
3 Jan 2023