A First Greeting That Shares New Year Blessings
Today's teaching begins with a short greeting offered on the first morning of the New Year. The words, may you receive many New Year blessings, are not long, but within them is the wish that the other person may live the year in peace, wisdom, and warmth.
Blessing is not only something special found far away. When we see one another with care, offer the first greeting sincerely, and help each other begin the day with a good heart, blessing has already begun to move.
When the New Year comes, we think of big plans and new resolutions. Yet before all those beginnings, there is the small practice of bringing forth a good heart toward the person we meet now. One warm word gently opens the door of the New Year.
The heart that wishes blessing for another also returns to me. The greeting I offer brightens the other person, and that brightened heart lights up my own day again. This is why a blessing warms both the one who gives it and the one who receives it.
Today, try valuing the first greeting more than grand words. Put sincerity into the words, may you receive many New Year blessings, and see the people beside you with care. The heart that blesses one another's year is today's best beginning.
The first greeting of the New Year is brief, but it carries a large heart. Blessing is not found only far away; it begins when we offer warm words and see one another with care. A sincere blessing brightens both the one who receives it and the one who gives it.
