Keep the Heart of a Child

Retain the Heart of a Child

A New Year’s Message for 2026
Inspired by Pujya Babuji’s
Whisper from The Brighter World
 
 

उलझनों में खोया जहाँ है, मासूम सा हो जा तू

रूह का तख़्त यही दिल है जानम, सादगी में खो जा तू

If you are lost in the confusion, become innocent. This heart is where the soul lives. Dear one, let yourself go in simplicity.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As we draw closer to 2026, I want you to pause and reflect on what the master's have always told us: keep the heart of a child. This one simple piece of guidance holds the key to all spiritual life. But let me share with you why this lesson is more important than ever and how it is the key to the highest ideal of our nation. 

The world is one family, or Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. This is the ancient message from Bharat, our Mother India. We are proud to speak these words. We invoke them when nations gather together. But here is the question that should make us pause: If his vision cannot be realized in our own homes, can it ever be realized in the world?

Think about your own family. You may be three, four, or more. Do you keep track of who you love the most within this small circle? Do you maintain ledgers in your heart recording how another person acted or failed to act? “She said this to me in 2019.” “He never valued what I sacrificed.” “They never appreciate what I do.” These are the ledgers we keep, sometimes without even realizing it. As long as these ledgers remain, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is merely a beautiful phrase. 

Now look at a child. A child’s heart is whole. When they play in water, they do not think about hydrogen and oxygen; they simply splash. There are no conditions, no boundaries, no memories of past hurts when loving. A child does not say, “I will love you if you meet my expectations.” A child does not remember the wounds of yesterday. This is the heart that remains protected from difficulties and stays safe from the hardships of life. This is also the only heart that can make family real, whether that family is small or encompasses the entire world.

The Throne of the Soul

The Masters remind us that the heart is where the soul lives, and that it is the essence of the Being in its search for transcendence. This level is what matters. Not what we accomplish, not how spiritual we appear, not how many years we have walked the path. What matters is whether our hearts remain pure, simple, and childlike.

What does a child know without being taught?

To be amazed by the ordinary. To trust without demanding proof. To love without keeping accounts. To be present without strategizing. To forgive without remembering. To give without expecting. 

Examine this list carefully. Is this not precisely what Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam requires of us? The child already lives what we are striving to learn through philosophy and discipline.

The Hardening We Must Undo

Life toughens us. Disappointments harden around the heart. Responsibilities create armour. Even the pursuit of spiritual growth can become a form of hardening if it is about acquisition rather than surrender. And slowly, imperceptibly, we begin to keep score. The spouse who did not understand. The child who did not call. The parent who refused. The sibling who did not support. Every entry in our emotional ledger is a brick in the wall that separates us from those we love most. 

And if we cannot demolish these walls within a family of four, what hope do we have of dissolving the walls between nations, between religions, between races?


The Secret of 2026

Here is the secret that 2026 offers us: The approach to God is not through chasing spiritual experiences or accumulating spiritual knowledge. It is through becoming like little children. Those who can bow their heads in wonder at a flower. Those who can weep without shame. Those who can laugh without reason. Those who can love without fear. Those who can forgive without keeping accounts. 

The same heart that connects us to God can connect us to each other. You do not need two different hearts: one for the Divine and one for your family. There is only one heart, and it must be the heart of a child.

The world will tell you to grow up, to be serious, to protect yourself, to measure your spiritual advancement. But the Masters say something else. They say, “Become like little children.” They say, “Return to the source and let life refresh you.” They say, “Everything hangs on the heart.” 

A Practice for This Year

Do not keep track of who said what. Do not maintain ledgers of old hurts. Do not require others to earn your love by meeting your expectations. When you serve others, serve like a child sharing their toys: for the joy of sharing itself, not for credit or acknowledgment. When relationships become difficult, trust like a child trusts. Not because you have evidence that the other person deserves it, but because trust is your nature and suspicion has no home in your heart.
 

The Ripple of Transformation

Something extraordinary will happen if we can do this. The Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam that begins in our living room will radiate outward. A family that does not use scorecards becomes a community that does not use scorecards. A community that loves without conditions becomes the seed of a nation that loves without conditions. And a nation that has truly become one family can finally, genuinely, invite the world to become one family as well.  The transformation must begin somewhere. Let it begin in your heart. Let it begin in your home. Let it begin this year.


The Whisper That Inspired This Message 

Let us turn to one of Babuji’s messages from The Brighter World, the one that sparked these reflections.


Monday, October 18, 2004, 10:00 a.m. 

“Keep this childlike heart, which has kept you safe from harm. This is what we can tell each of our brothers: this heart is where the soul lives, and it is the very essence of the being in his frantic search for transcendence. This level is where everything hangs. Be like little children. If life has toughened you up and pushed you away from the source, this is the only thing that can bring you back to life. The goal of your spiritual journey is to help you focus on what really matters.

“You feel this need inside you. Your material life can make you happy, but it can also leave you feeling empty and like something is missing. But an unending practice brings this strong desire to be one with the Divine to the surface more and more. That is the end of a long search; the truth comes to the searcher as they wander

Everything is so easy in this field: all you have to do is want it, practice it right, and remember the wisdom you lost when you lost your rights in a fake life full of problems that keep you from your true destiny.” -                                                                                                      - Babuji

 

The Simplicity We Forgot

Babuji says that everything is so easy. Wanting, practicing correctly, and recovering the wisdom we have lost: this is all we need. That wisdom is the wisdom of a child who loves without keeping track, forgives without remembering, and gives without expecting anything in return. That wisdom is what makes Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam possible. That wisdom lives in the heart we were born with, and we can choose to reclaim it now.

Let 2026 be the year you allow yourself to become simple again. The year you laugh easily, weep freely, love openly, and trust deeply. Let this be the year you burn the scorecards you have maintained against those you love most, perhaps for decades. Let this be the year when your practice is no longer about acquiring something but about revealing what was always there: the divine child who never left, who was only waiting to be noticed, honored, and lived.


One Destination, One Heart

The union you seek, the merger you pray for, the transcendence you practice: all are hidden in the heart of a child. And so is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. These are not two different destinations. They are the same. The heart that can merge with the Divine can merge with family. The heart that keeps no accounts with God keeps no accounts with spouse, child, parent, or sibling. 

That child is you. Always has been. Always will be.

Happy New Year 2026!


Dear ones, where confusion dwells, let us become innocent
 

उलझनों में खोया जहाँ है, मासूम सा हो जा तू

रूह का तख़्त यही दिल है जानम, सादगी में खो जा तू

                                                                                                   
Message on the Occasion of the New Year, January 1, 2026


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