Today is New Year’s Day, the first day of the new year. I am not much for resolutions, most people don’t keep them any way. However, all of us like and want and deserve a “fresh start”. And I think a new year is a good time for a “fresh start”.

Many of us have gotten away from our meditation practice. Many of us too have succumbed to one (or all) of the afflictive emotions. Maybe we have been unkind or not controlled our anger. Sometimes it may seem like we are not making any progress at all. Most of think of the word “sin” as exclusively a Christian term. However, the original meaning of the word “sin” was an archery term that meant “missing the mark.” All of us fall short of the mark at some time.

So, all of us need a “fresh start” from time to time. A “fresh start” is a good time to start again, whether it is our meditation practice, spending more time with our families, controlling our anger and being more patient - or whatever it is we need to do.

Sometimes life gives us a fresh start whether we want one or not. A relationship come to an end our job comes to an end. Recently my car with nearly 300,000 miles on it decided to end. We should look upon these situations not as disasters but as opportunities to start anew.

What most of us don’t realize is that “fresh start” is available to us in every moment. You don’t have to wait until the New Year because a “fresh start” is available to us in every breath. When we breath in, we are actually taking in part of the universe into our bodies. As we breath out we are literally breathing out part of ourselves to the entire universe. So we are connected not only karmically with everyone in the universe, but we are connected on a physical level as well.

Ghandhi once said:

“Live your life as if you were to die tomorrow, but have your visions as if you will live forever.”

How would you live your life differently if you knew you were going to die next week? Wouldn’t your priorities suddenly change? While having a clean house is nice, it is not as important as some other things. My guess is that you would want to spend more time with your families, and hopefully spend more time doing meditation practice.

So, if we are going to have a fresh start I’d like to suggest it be to develop a daily meditation practice. And as part of that practice I like to suggest we focus on the “Four Great Efforts.” These “Four Great Efforts” were taught by the Buddha himself. They relate to the concept of karma in which all actions are classified as either “wholesome” or “unwholesome”. Wholesome, meaning we help and are of benefit to others and unwholesome meaning we harm self or others through body, speech or mind.

The “Four Great Efforts” are:

1. An effort to diminish the unwholesome mental states that have already arisen. Maybe you are aware of anger, greed or jealousy in your mind.

2. To prevent those unwholesome mental states that have not arisen from arising. Perhaps you don’t have have a problem with anger – so be aware of that – and guard against developing anger and harming others.

3. To strengthen those wholesome mental states that are already developed. Those might be compassion or patience, for example. So you would continue to work to strengthen being even more kind and more k compassionate.

4. To cultivate & develop the wholesome states that have not yet arisen. Again, being aware or mindful of those good states of mind - such as generosity or patience.

I am sure many of you are familiar with the wonder Sufi mystice Rumi who wrote love beautiful love poems to God. In closing I’d like to share with you a wonderful quote by Rumi who said,

“Come come whoever you are

Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving – it doesn’t matter.

Ours is not a caravan of despair.

Come, even though you have broken your vow a hundred times.

Come. Come again, Come.”

So realize we have a “fresh start” available to us not only now in this New Year but in every moment. As Rumi says so eloquently even if you have broken your vow a hundred times - come, come back to your Buddhist practice.

Come back in this New Year to “awaken your heart” by avoiding harming others thru body, speech or mind. Come back to being more kind, more compassionate to all beings without distinction. Come back by releasing grudges, angers, hurts and past pains. Come back by forgiving those who have harmed us. Come back by being a beacon (an example) to lead others by example from darkness to light, from falsehood to truth and from wrong to right.

These enlightened qualities, I believed are best accomplished through the development of a daily meditation practice. And finally work toward accomplishing the “Four Great Efforts.”