Each of our stories
is so fascinating. If only we pause to listen to them the world will be so much
more a better place to be in.
Yesterday I was moderating a
Panel Discussion on building Safer Cities at a Business Conclave. One of the speakers
I met there is a fine Britisher named Dr.Andrew Hawkins, a senior management
team member at Microsoft. Dr.Hawkins has an amazing, almost incredible, story.
His great grandfather was lost in the high seas when his ship wrecked while he
was on a voyage through the Indian Ocean. But he miraculously swam ashore,
landing at an Indian beach. A group of Indian fishermen cared for him for
several months, helped him regain his health and he eventually found his way
back to Britain. Dr.Hawkins was very emotional when he said: “I am here, able
to speak to all of you, only because a few kind Indians, in a coastal village
here, many, many years ago took care of my great grandfather!” Dr.Hawkins finds
it so overwhelming that, over three generations later, he should be in the same
country that helped his great grandfather rebuild his Life. He plans to come
back to India on a sabbatical to locate and reconnect with the families of
those fishermen that tended for his forefather and express his family’s gratitude
to them.
Hearing Dr.Hawkins’ story
reminded me of a beautiful expression, a truth, that I had read some years ago.
We are all not human beings going through temporary spiritual
experiences, we are all spiritual beings going through temporary human
experiences. All the strife and disharmony in the world exists
because we don’t notice the divinity in each other. We go around seeking God in
temples, churches, mosques and gurudwaras,
but we fail to see the God within. You and I are alive because of a Life energy
that powers us, that thrives in us. And it is the same. The slum dweller in
Dharavi in Mumbai, the President in the White House, the hungry child in South
Sudan, the Maori aboriginals of New Zealand and each of the seven billion
people on the planet – each of us, has the same energy source. What more
evidence do we need of the divinity in us? That makes all of us equal and
connected. You inhale what I exhale. And I inhale what you exhale. There can’t
be a more evident connect, a more deeper bond between us humans.
Yet, however much social
media may have transformed the world by shrinking distances, we continue to be
divided by race, religion and nationalities. The distances between us are actually
no longer just physical. We are distant because we have stopped being human. We
are just not available for each other. We are no longer making an effort to
reach out, to understand, to appreciate and celebrate each other. We are lost
in our own myopic worlds and are consumed by our challenges. We don’t realize
that if share, if we listen, we can learn a lot more and feel a lot, lot more
happier and secure. The Dalai Lama, someone who I admire greatly for his
simplicity and wisdom, has said this so beautifully, “If you
want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice
compassion. This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need
for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the
philosophy is kindness.”
Here’s hoping you and I make
more time for each other and for pausing to share and learn from our stories.
That’s the only way we can, together, make this world more caring and leave it
better than we found it!
namaste! – The God in me bows to the God in you!
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