New Year resolution

Amitabh Shukla

I tried various New Year resolutions over the years. I could not stick to any one of them for more than a fortnight. None of them worked as the basis of taking the resolution was a “New Year” which merely changes the date, calendar and the diaries. All days are the same, including December 31 or January 1.

Only a firm resolution from the inner self is going to work. And this requires practice and training of a much longer duration. Keeping the five senses in their right place – in the firm grip of the individual after all is no mean task and only the enlightened have managed to do so.

A friend casually asked, “what would be your New Year resolution this time?” I had no simple answers. “My resolution would be to gain control on my five senses which go astray at the slightest provocation,” I told my friend. “I have been trying to manage them unsuccessfully for quite sometime now”. My friend now got confused.

But, you seem to be a reasonably balanced person! These was a question hidden in his conversation. “Everybody is born with a balance. Only the conditioning and untrained senses makes him different,” I told him, quoting from a book which I had read recently. The book was the source of my acquired wisdom.

Everyone likes to hear good things about himself or herself, likes to touch soft things in life, see the beautiful face of the earth and nature’s creation, taste the best cuisine from around the globe and finally smell the perfumes from international houses. “Breaking this routine and acquiring mastery over them is the biggest challenge for the human being,” the book said and I quoted it to my friend.

“I see no harm if you want good things in life. Why for god’s sake would you eat dal and roti if continental cuisine too were available at the same table? Why would you take bath with plain water of cologne too was available in the bathroom?” he had a series of questions to challenge my thoughts on the issue.

You could still take a vow not to lie, not to hurt anyone, control anger etc etc,” the friend continued. “Why go for such vague things?” he finally asked.

I could not convince my friend with my answers, acquired from books. “There is nothing wrong in enjoying what you get in due course but yearning for them and becoming a slave to your five senses is problematic. I have a simple resolution, this New Year – Help me overcome the dominating role which my senses play in my life”. My friend promised to get back to me after a month and ask how much I had succeeded.

(January 2, 2011)