At this beautiful time of the New Year, we must remember that the point of our lives is to realize our own true divine nature, to awaken and unfold into the divinity of ourselves. In many cases, that process requires both inner struggle as well as patience.

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There is a wonderful story of a man who noticed, on a tree outside his home, a beautifully woven cocoon. He carefully watched the cocoon every day in order to catch the first glimpse of the butterfly he knew would emerge. Finally, one day he saw a tiny hole in the cocoon which grew quickly as the hours passed. He sat watching the butterfly break her way out of the cocoon. He noticed that it seemed the butterfly had stopped making progress. The hole did not get any larger and the butterfly seemed to be stuck. The cocoon was bouncing up and down on the branch as the butterfly tried to squeeze herself, unsuccessfully, through the hole she had created.

The man watched in dismay as it seemed his butterfly would not be able to emerge. Finally, he went inside, took a small pair of scissors, and carefully cut the cocoon, allowing the butterfly to emerge easily. However, the butterfly immediately dropped to the ground instead of soaring gracefully into the sky as he imagined she would.

The man noticed that the butterfly’s stomach was swollen and distended and her wings were small and shriveled, explaining her inability to fly. He assumed that after some time, the stomach would shrink and the wings would expand, and she would fly in her fullest glory. However, this was never to be.
The man didn’t know that it was the very act of forcing her body through the tiny hole in the cocoon which pushed all the fluid from the butterfly’s stomach into her wings. Without that external pressure, the stomach would always be swollen with fluid and the wings would always be small and shriveled. His butterfly would never be able to fly.

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In life, so frequently, we avoid challenges, looking for an easy, quick way to the goal. People will come to me and say, “Oh, why has God given me so much strife? Why has He put so many obstacles in my path? Why is He punishing me? Please remove these obstacles from my path.” We must realize that challenges and hurdles are not punishments. That difficulty has been placed in our path specifically because it is exactly what we need in order to take the next step of our own awakening, what we need to unfold another petal of the divine flower we are born to be. The obstacles in our path are God’s way of showing us how to fly. With every bit of pushing and struggling, our wings become fuller and fuller and only then are we able to fly in our true glory.

At this auspicious time of the New Year, I pray that – regardless of how small or big the hole in your cocoon seems, regardless of how quickly or slowly you seem to be pushing through it, and regardless of whether you can yet envision the glory of who YOU really are – you may all have the courage, patience, understanding and full faith in the Divine to keep moving toward the light.

The world today needs all of YOU, in your fullest, most awake, most realized way. Our world is in the midst of such despair, such darkness, such rampant devastation. Only if each of us moves – with courage, fearlessness and dedication – toward the light, toward the truth of our Selves, toward our own divinity, can we serve as torchbearers of that light for the rest of the world.

With love and blessings,
In the service of God and humanity,
Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji – Muniji