Rising Above the Cycle for a New Year and a New You





Priya, Apriya, and Upekṣha: Rising Above the Cycle for a New Year That Matters

As another year rolls by and 2025 awaits with promises of new beginnings, one might feel the usual stirrings of hope, resolutions, and aspirations. Yet, as the clock strikes midnight, let us pause to reflect: does the calendar truly dictate change, or does transformation lie elsewhere? The human condition, bound as it is by the ceaseless cycle of priya (what is dear), apriya (what is not dear), and upekṣha (indifference), seldom finds renewal in mere numbers. Unless we rise above this triad, the new year will remain just another marker in the endless passage of time, devoid of deeper meaning.

The World We Make

Human life, in its essence, is a symphony of reactions. Priya, apriya, and upekṣha define how we interact with the world. We cling to what we love (priya), recoil from what we dislike (apriya), and ignore what seems irrelevant (upekṣha). These responses form the lens through which we perceive life, constructing a personal world atop the one that simply is.

Consider this: the world created by the divine is neutral, a vast field of experiences that unfold without bias. It is we who color it with attachment, aversion, and apathy. A sunrise, majestic in its quiet splendor, remains the same whether we marvel at it, dismiss it as mundane, or fail to notice it altogether. Our responses, however, trap us in a web of preference and prejudice, shaping our joys and sorrows, hopes and fears.

This entanglement is self-perpetuating. What we deem priya becomes an object of craving, what we label apriya becomes a source of suffering, and what we treat with upekṣha becomes lost potential, opportunities for growth ignored in the haze of indifference. Year after year, we revolve around these states, mistaking the wheel’s turning for progress.

A New Year or Just a New Number?

What then does a new year mean if we remain tethered to this triad? Resolutions are made, only to be abandoned when apriya arises in the form of effort or discipline. Hopes are kindled, only to be extinguished when upekṣha allows distractions to take hold. Celebrations are held, but they are fleeting, for priya turns hollow when the novelty fades.

A new year cannot bring change unless we ourselves change the way we live. The essence of transformation lies not in the ticking of a clock but in the reorientation of the mind. To rise above priya, apriya, and upekṣha is to find equanimity, a state where the world is accepted as it is, and we navigate it with wisdom, rather than reaction.

Equanimity: The Path to Freedom

Equanimity (upekṣā in its higher spiritual sense) is not mere indifference, but a profound acceptance of life in its entirety. It is the ability to see the pleasant and unpleasant without clinging or rejecting, to witness the unfolding of events without losing balance.

This state is not apathy; it is clarity. It does not ask us to abandon love or ambition but to engage with them from a place of steadiness. Love, when freed from the possessiveness of priya, becomes expansive and selfless. Ambition, when stripped of the aversion to failure (apriya), becomes a pursuit of excellence rather than an obsession with results. And the unnoticed corners of life, long overshadowed by upekṣha, reveal their quiet beauty and significance.

A New Beginning Within

As 2025 approaches, let us resolve to transcend the triad of priya, apriya, and upekṣha. This is not a call to suppress emotions but to master them. It is a reminder that the divine world around us does not change with the calendar—it is our inner world that must evolve.

How do we begin this journey?

  1. Awareness: Observe your reactions. Notice when attachment, aversion, or indifference arises. Awareness is the first step to breaking free.
  2. Acceptance: Embrace the moment as it is, without resistance. Even the unpleasant has its role in the larger tapestry of life.
  3. Balance: Cultivate practices that ground you—meditation, reflection, or simply pausing to breathe. Balance is not innate; it is a skill we hone.
  4. Engagement with Purpose: Let your actions flow not from compulsions but from conscious choices aligned with higher values.

Why It Matters

The journey beyond priya, apriya, and upekṣha is not merely personal; it is universal. As we find balance within, we contribute to harmony without. A world less bound by preference and prejudice becomes a world more open to compassion and collaboration.

A new year, stripped of equanimity, is just another number. But a mind that transcends its cycles breathes new life into every moment. Let 2025 be not a marker of time but a milestone of growth—a year where the divine world remains untouched by our whims, but our inner world finds the stillness to reflect its beauty.

This is the transformation that matters. This is the new beginning we truly seek.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 30, 2024 at 9:21 AM

    Brilliant. Spirituality teaches you not to abandon life but the see experience it with “ Constructive detachment”. To see everything in this universe without conditioning and is divine, is the ultimate goal.

    ReplyDelete

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