Happy New Year. Lord Krishna’s advice for new year - Everything comes and goes in life:

Lord Krishna said: “Arjuna, everything comes and goes in life. Happiness and unhappiness are temporary experiences that rise from sense perception. Heat and cold, pleasure and pain will come and go. They never last forever. So, do not get attached to them.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2:14)

Everything will come and go in our lives and so we cannot get attached to them. Good and bad things will come and go in our lives. We have no control of them. Things may not work out as we expect.

Life is not exactly a bed of roses. It’s full of ups and downs. It is a mixture of roses as well as thorns. With the right approach, all of us can deal with all adverse things in life.

Always think with a calm mind:

Lord Krishna tells a worried Arjuna:  “Arjuna, no doubt the mind is very difficult to control. However, it can be controlled by constant practice and detachment.”  (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6:35)

Lord Krishna gave utmost importance to mind and thoughts throughout the Bhagavad Gita. According to Lord Krishna, the first step is to gain clarity on any situation by developing a clear, calm and collected mind.

One way is introspection, another way is by distancing yourself from the situation - not physically but mentally - where you look at it as an outsider and have a bird's eye view of it.

We can always revisit anything that happened to us at work or at home and visualize what would have happened if we did certain things in a totally different way than what happened.

This way instead of lamenting about something that happened, we will be in control of what happened and will be in control of future events.

Abandon fruits of actions:

Lord Krishna said:  “Arjuna, you only have the right to act (Karma); At the same time, you do not have the right for the fruits of actions. You should not act, motivated by the fruits of actions and also never be inactive any time.” (2.47)  (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2:47)

From the outset, the most oft-repeated advice of Lord Krishna is“Nishkama karma,” doing action without expecting any reward:

Most of our decisions are based on “I” and “mine” and we get affected because we wonder about their outcomes and consequences. “Ego” or “Aham Bhava” is the biggest stumbling block in our life.

Whenever we engage in selfless thoughts and actions that contribute to the welfare of others, we will enter higher states of mind and we will be surprised to see even total strangers helping us in our projects.

Life will become saddening, depressing, etc. because of our attachment to outcome. When we free our self from the outcome and focus instead on the selfless actions, we will be very happy.

That is the reason why Jesus Christ also said: “Don’t Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing….”

Do not worry about Sin:

Lord Krishna said: “Even if you are the worst sinner in the world; You can still cross the ocean of Sin; By a bark of (Jnana) wisdom. As the blazing fire burns wood to ashes, Arjuna, so does the fire of true knowledge (Jnana) which will burn all “karmic debt” to ashes.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4:36, 37)

People do bad karmas due ignorance of the truth, just like a child putting his hand in fire. Fire burns child hand and then child learn a lesson that fire burns… Child did not sin. Ignorance of the nature of fire made the child to commit a mistake. Child learned from his mistake.

Similarly, all of us learn from experiences, by “Trial and error process.”

So, sin means ignorance of the truth that we are indeed the Atman, the immortal soul within the body and living with the false belief we are the perishable material body.

That is the reason why Hindu salvation is known as self-realization meaning realizing one is indeed the immortal soul within the body – Atman and rejecting the false belief that one is perishable material body.

Treat friend and foe equally:

Lord Krishna said:  “Arjuna, a person is considered superior, who is impartial towards friends, enemies, friends, relatives and strangers and treat everyone with equal respect.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6:09)

We constantly meet positive as well as negative people in our lives. So, it's difficult not to get influenced by them.

That is the reason why Lord Krishna ask us to treat everyone with respect and love.

Both Lord Buddha as well as Jesus Christ said we have no right to hate but love.

Whatever the situation, don't give in to stress:

Lord Krishna said: “Arjuna, the one who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me.” (12.15)  (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12:15)

We are in a rat race of endless, self-defeating, and pointless pursuit.So, these words of Lord Krishna have a lot of importance today

We have to get rid our self of excessive worry. We should not take on more than we can cope with and add enough “me-time” in our day to day lives to help us calm down.

Please do not live the life of your son and daughter. Only thing you can do, is to show them direction and give them advice only when they ask for it.

You have no way of living their lives. Just like U & I , they also came with a lot of karmic debt and they have to deal with them in their own personal ways.

Just like you and I, they will also will learn from the trial and error process

Accept change as it happens in our lives.

Lord Krishna said: “Arjuna, when inertia and inactivity are predominant, ignorance, stress, and delusion arise.  (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14:13)

Inactivity is the cause of most stress and depression. That is the reason why Lord Krishna repeatedly tells us that “We have no right stop working.”

So, every time, when we feel our self-slipping into lethargy or a state of inertia, we have to stir our self, change direction, give our self a new challenge.

I am retired, so I have nothing to do may sound good, but that will be biggest down fall in your life. That life of inertia will make you physically as well as mentally sick. Sadly, many retirees do not this fact.

You should always have something constructive to do. Sitting idle is no excuse at all.

Always act with conviction:

Lord Krishna said: “Arjuna, anything done such as sacrifice, charity of penance or austerity, without faith is useless. It has no value in this life or hereafter.” (17.28)  (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17:28)

Belief is the corner stone of life.

Without firm conviction, no one can succeed in life.

People come out victoriously even during in extreme situations, since they believe in what they do.

Without conviction, life is not possible.

“We have nothing to fear, except fear itself.”

Surrender everything to God:

Lord Krishna said: “Abandon all Dharma (duties) and just surrender unto me (the will of God). I shall deliver you from all bonds of Karma. Do not fear.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18:66)

Surrendering to God does not mean to run away from life.

It only meant to perform all thoughts and actions surrendering to God, making God the “doer” and you and I just servants of God.

By surrendering to God, God becomes the “doer” and we just become instruments of God.