The Future of Peace, Health, and Happiness Starts Now

As years roll on in our lives the karmic effect of the past slowly reveals itself. Many times we are blind in the moment and it takes hindsight offered by the future to see consequences clearly. A harsh word said to a friend may illicit regret immediately after the words are spoken. But the consequence of harsh words continuously spoken to the people close to us over the course of many years may not be seen or recognized until we one day suddenly find ourselves old and lonely.

A life of indulgence in drugs, smoking or alcohol may seem like fun at the time, but the cumulative effect shows up years into the future, with premature aging, deteriorating and overworked organs, a foggy mind and sick body.

We all say we want to be healthier, happier, and holier, but how can we expect to achieve this if we do not make conscious changes? If we are not content now, how can we expect to be content tomorrow? We all keep doing the same thing: chasing the same dreams, desiring more money, hoping for our partners to change or to change our partners, and clinging to the same habits. The future projection of this karmic pattern is a life of regrets and frustrations.

The only hope is to break the pattern, to end the cycle. And the only way to do this is to live with more awareness. By injecting a couple hours of yoga or meditation once a week you have initiated a change. The depth and degree of this change is dependent on how far you allow yourself to surrender your ego during those two hours. If you truly surrender your ego this will carry into your week. If you can meditate and do yoga regularly everyday, it stands to reason that this too will have a positive projected future karmic effect.

When you see old cars from the 20s, 30s, and so on, one thing you’ll find in common is that the owners consistently treated their cars with care. Washing them, putting in good quality gasoline, changing the oil regularly. Thus the cars have longevity and still look dazzling, while cars that were maltreated lay in rust in some junk yard. Our bodies are our vehicles to get us through this life, and we only get one.

Look at two paths, just for an example, one of the yogic lifestyle and the other of the life of indulgence. The yogi invests his time in practicing yoga to keep the body fit and healthy. He eats good food and is drawn towards good people and making decisions that lead to lasting happiness. The person who lives a life of indulgence eats an unhealthy diet that may increase the risk of a heart attack. He squanders his time in spurious pleasures that over time can hurt not only himself but others around him – for example, an out of control drunk driver that causes an accident. Selfishness creates the most tragic karma…

If we truly want peace in our hearts and peace on earth we have to love ourselves, our fellow sentient beings, and the earth itself so much that we are willing to sacrifice a few spurious pleasure for the sake of creating a better world. I want to be able to look back in 30 or 40 years and say “You did well.”

If we are ever to see the future projection of peace on this planet and love in our hearts, it starts here, now, today, this minute, this second.