Birthdays
are days of joy and happiness everywhere. But nowadays they are
becoming more and more occasions for merely outer celebrations and
parties, which often externalise and lower the consciousness. On
the other hand they can play an important role in one's inner growth.
The Mother was once asked
about the deeper significance of Birthdays. We give here some questions
and the Mother's revealing answers which throw an entirely new light
on this subject. We hope these will help us in spending the Birthdays
in the right way and taking advantage of the occasions for making
a special progress.
The deeper Significance
of Birthdays
What is the true
significance of Birthdays? Why are they given a special importance
in the Ashram?
"It is truly a
special day in one's life. It is one of those days in the year
when the Supreme descends into us - or when we are face to face
with the Eternal - one of those days when our soul comes in contact
with the Eternal and, if we remain a little conscious, we can
feel His Presence within us. If we make a little effort on this
day, we accomplish the work of many lives as in a lightning flash.
That is why I give so much importance to the birthday - because
what one gains in one day is truly something incomparable…
My child, it is a very very special day, for it is the day of
decision, the day one can unite with the Supreme Consciousness.
For the Lord lifts us on this day to the highest region possible
so that our soul, which is a portion of that Eternal Flame, may
be united and identified with its Origin.
This day is truly an
opportunity in life…
It is one of those
days when the Lord Himself opens the doors wide for us. It is
as though He were inviting us to rekindle more powerfully the
flame of aspiration. It is one of those days which He gives us.
We too, by our personal effort, could attain to this, but it would
be long, hard and not so easy. And this - this is a real chance
in life - the day of the Grace."
How to spend one's
Birthday
How should one spend…
one's birthday?
"…in finding
out the purpose of life."
*
Today is my birthday. I want this day to be the beginning of
a more spiritual life and therefore something has to be done. Please
tell me what I must do.
"It is not with
the mind that one should decide what has to be done. It should
be a spontaneous movement taking place in a sincere and constant
aspiration."
*
What is the meaning
of one's birthday, apart from its commemorative character? How can
one take advantage of this occasion?
"Because of the
rhythm of the universal forces, a person is supposed to have a
special receptivity on his birthday each year.
He can therefore take
advantage of this receptivity by making good resolutions and fresh
progress on the path of his integral development."
- The
Mother
Two beautiful Birthday
Messages
"Let this day
of your birth be for you an occasion to give yourself a little
more, a little better to the Divine. Let your consecration be
more total, your devotion more ardent, your aspiration more intense.
Open yourself to the
New Light and walk with a joyful step on the path.
Resolve on this day
that it may be thus and the day will not have passed in vain."
- The
Mother
"Let the new birth
become manifest in your heart and radiate in calm and joy and
take up all the parts of your being, mind and vision and will
and feeling and life and body. Let each date in your life be a
date of its growth and greater completeness till all in you is
the child of the Mother. Let the Light and Power and Presence
envelop you and protect and cherish and foster, till all in your
inner and outer existence is one movement and an expression of
its peace and strength and Ananda."
- Sri
Aurobindo
