Viewpoint
A New Life
In the movie Doctor Zhivago, “Laura’s Theme (Somewhere My Love)” gently encourages hopes of spring and new life as the scene shifts to fields of daffodils swaying in the breezes. After terrible disasters for most of the players in the story, this is a respite of hope and new beginnings. As with most of us, however, the characters still carry baggage from their past that will catch up with them.
A part of the human condition is the need to face challenges and disappointments. Whether it is something that could not be averted, such as the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina, or something caused by human error, bad things happen to everyone. As the politicians say, “Mistakes were made.” And usually it is a combination of our actions plus unforeseen events.
These difficulties fill our minds with angst and worry. We may have an equal share of serendipitous occasions, but we tend to quickly forget about those. It is more difficult to let go of the unpleasant. It seems to be built into our nature that when we see a large piece of white paper with one tiny smudge, it is the smudge that catches and holds our attention.
I had an uncle who had worked all his life building up a combination dry cleaning and bakery business. A kind and honest man, he had lived and worked in the same small town all his life. During the process of selling his businesses so that he could retire, he was swindled out of the entire enterprise with barely a nickel to show for all his work. Had he been able to let go of his resentment, he would have had a pleasant existence for the next fifteen years of his life. With full ownership of his house and minimal expenses in the small town, he could have enjoyed his friends, family, and grandchildren. Instead he lived every day of his remaining fifteen years with bitterness.
This is only one of many similar instances in which the ability to begin again with a clean slate would be beneficial. If one could let go of the old attachments, even while remaining in the same situation, there could be a fresh start with renewed possibilities.
When considering the idea of reincarnation, many question why we do not remember past lives. Many not only question but actively seek former identities and relationships. The romanticism of being someone else—preferably of heroic stature—salves the strain of current problems. We may do well to appreciate the value of beginning with a clean slate, viewing our present life and situation with new eyes.
Babies bring with them the hopefulness of infinite potentiality. They arrive without baggage, open to a new world. There is no question that from the beginning they bring a particular personality with qualities of being and preferences. Ah, but how fortunate they are that they can take each new experience with an unfettered approach. Jesus was referring to this kind of attitude when he said, “You must become as a little child to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Reincarnation involves the big picture of new beginnings, but it is something over which we have very little control. In the present, however, we can be born anew. This is not a birth of the body, but one of attitude and spirit. With each new day and in every moment of that day, we can open our eyes to things as they are in the moment—just as Krishnamurti and many other spiritual teachers have reminded us. Then we can have clarity and the space to make wise decisions.
This teaching was expressed by the Buddha when explaining his Noble Eightfold Path. As Madame Blavatsky said: “[The Buddha’s] efforts were to release mankind from too strong an attachment to life, which is the chief cause of Selfishness—whence the creator of mutual pain and suffering.” (CW VIII, 112)
The word attachment carries many nuances of meaning, but in all it refers to clinging—usually to the past and always to the way we want things to be. The memories to which we cling imprison our greater nature by replaying the past. Possibly the reason our universe is designed so that we have a limited lifetime is to give us the necessary break from the past and to grant us the gift of new beginnings.
This kind of renewal is possible, but as Krishna acknowledges in the Bhagavad Gita, the mind is most difficult to tame. Yet with persistent effort, it can be accomplished. Daily we can practice the idea of experiencing life anew. Every morning that we arise, we can think of the spring daffodils dancing in the breezes of time, beckoning us to try again. We can determine that this is the beginning of a new life with infinite possibilities.