New Year's Resolutions: a Buddhist perspective

Good morning and hello New Year! I’m very excited that you’re here.

This is a magical day. Can you feel it? No matter what else is going on, in some way most people are in a state of contemplation and hope. Yesterday and today are the two days in the year when reflection comes to the fore, and with it a desire to see more deeply into what is. Looking at what is while examining one’s inner state are the ground of magic.

From this magic, from a continual effort to look at what is while examining one’s inner state, clear seeing arises and speaks to you in its mysterious language. I suppose it is the language of art and of spontaneous insight. It can tell you who you are and what you truly seek.

Should resolutions arise from this state, you can take those resolutions to the bank.

I “received” two resolutions, one yesterday and one this morning. On the surface they sound just like ordinary resolutions (one is about where I want to commit my creative energies and the other is about deepening my spiritual practice). But they aren’t ordinary because, unlike past resolutions, they aren’t primarily sparked by guilt or fear. They are simply a recognition of what I already know about myself, but wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge.

So aside from the normal and very important resolutions to quit smoking, get healthy, and so on, there is another class of resolution and these are more about your destiny. They may also contain elements of guilt or fear, but are rooted in something far more elemental. Here is how you can recognize them:

1. They arise spontaneously; you don’t sit down and think of them, they hit you in the face from “nowhere.”

2. They are deeply personal; only you know just what your resolution means, what past joys and sorrows it is rooted in, and what it will mean to aspire to it.

3. Whatever you’re resolving to become (a better _____ or a more accomplished ______), is already true. You don’t have to become that. You are that and now you simply need to reveal this truth to yourself and others.

Most important: don’t assume that you know what your resolution really means. It may point to something you need to accomplish. It may point to something you need to learn. It may point out that what you assumed would be good for you was true. Or false. Hold your resolution as a contemplation rather than a directive.

And pay close enough attention so that you know when to let it go completely.

May all circumstances conspire to turn the wheel of dharma for you. I wish you a year of deep personal realization and all the happiness and peace that come from it.

categorized in: dharma