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Being right or being kind , is a big challenge i face in my serving ( Volunteering). When I go to volunteer , many NGOs have a set of rules , which need to be followed. They say its for discipline and give many reasons to strictly follow them . But i do come across situations where compassion demands that the rules be slightly bent and i do it. For this i do get warned, and sometimes people who do not understand the concept of being kind vs being right , even file complaints. I have to explain why i did it . Sometimes people do understand, many times they dont . It s a constant struggle. But the satisfaction of doing what was really needed and that too with pure intent, , helps me overcome the fear of being scolded or ridiculed.

The poor couple was really rich. Abundance mentality and the care and concern for others is beautifully entrenched in him, inspite of his own circumstances.

"May we have the heart ( Courage) to commit us to the flame. May we have the heart to finish our cooking, to make each of us worthy of being inside the heart of another fellow human being.". Such profound words. Can this be our prayer during life's turbulations, difficult times? Can we be willing to be sanctified ? The passage touches us deep .

Am reminded of a Quote " "What is, is. Is what I want. Nothing else, but this" Thomas Aquinas. Fully accepting the present moment as the best one can have. The author has talked about Isness as a " beingness" , which again is about living in the present moment with full acceptance and awareness. A state when we can listen and tune into the body and the heart , instead of being in the mind , which again is guided by ego.

Thankyou for standing up for someone weaker than you , against someone stronger than you. It requires courage and inner strength to do such a thing

What the Polish man did was almost an ulimate act of kindness. Nothing near , but I can share an incident. A small boy had a recurrent blood cancer and I had received a random call for blood donation . I went to donate blood but my age was more 60 and I was not allowed to donate. I did meet the boy and his father , developed an instant connect and explained and helped a bit financially too. A week later I got a call that I could donate blood platelets and for that age limit was 65. I went and donated . For blood platelet donation the minimum gap between donations is 15 days. Again got a call after 20 days and i again donated. Third time i got a call after 12 days. He said the requirement was super urgent . I knew it was a bit dangerous but seeing the condition I donated. That night I did feel the chills . Could not tell my family as they would never allow such a thing. Some how I managed to get well the next day. The joy it gives us when we do something which is beyond normal parlance, going all in , is immense. I have always thanked God for giving me such opportunities and carrying me through them.

wow, that was so beautiful. election results or news or cricket games ( to which i am hooked too) are such a drain on our attention and yet we dont realise this and follow our habits and external influences. if we could just pause and slowdown and weigh our choices of attention , life could become so meaningful.

Thankyou for sharing Anthony. Thankyou Jt for further sharing it here. The awareness that we may be resisting the flow of life is , I guess, a step towards accepting life " as it is." Will wait for your views on Hinduism. Have read a bit on it , so we can have some good conversations on it.

Thankyou for the sharing. It resonates with what I witness in my volunteering.

I volunteer as a Counselor in a Hospice/ and a Cancer support NGO , where we get to meet end of life cancer patients. The patients are in a strong Cancer pain . But what we have been taught and I have also found out is to treat the pain holistically. There is a lot of emotional pain apart from the physical pain. Apart from treating the physical pain which is done by the medical professionals , we sit down with the patients and try to ascertain the emotional stress and try to bring some relief through counselling. It is usually seen that when the emotional pain is addressed and sorted the physical pain also comes down. There is a great unity between the mind and body and exploring that along with the spiritual stress provides some relief in the total pain.

In my volunteering as an "end of life " counselor , I do come across people struck with serious illnesses ( Mostly Cancer) and see them grappling with its aftermath. The usual question is "Why Me " ? What we fail to understand is, there is no answer to this question. Only after all the answers and questions have been exhausted, do we realise and accept that there is no answer and the only thing in our hand is to accept the situation, wholeheartedly, and then move ahead with whatever is in our hand. These are the people , who even in their death, bring so much of joy to others. I guess the same is true of all our difficult life situations.

The naturalist was the true guru for the eagle as he could see that the Eagle was a victim of conditioning and simple words or nudge would not work. He pushed the Eagle and almost made her realise her true self. Same way we have been conditioned by the people/society that we are just ordinary chickens and are here to do the mundane tasks . I guess we do need a guru , or maybe a shove or a jolt, to see and realise our authentic self and also to send us on the journey we are here on this planet for.

Smile. How we smile and the other person smiles back to us. No articulation , just a silent acknowledgement of beingness. I remember whenever I am in the park , for a morning walk , and sometimes in a pensive mood, and suddenly we exchange smiles , and the entire pensive mood vanishes and life starts appearing wonderful and joyous again. Suddenly a flower , that was falling off the tree , falls near me or over me , and I feel divinely blessed. Oh , how beautiful everything is

The Serbian saying "Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars". So profound.

Learning to go with the flow of life, without resistance, is the key , I guess. Laotzu .s instructions are so meaningful. its about internalising what we see rather than discussing about we see.

Do remember a pilgrimage where all the pilgrims are usually saints . I had undertaken it just to experience the grace of God. I had seen saints and would try and be like them. What I realised was, the authenticity and the natural flow of love was not there. Then I stopped trying and In a simple way started being in love , in gratitude of everything received, in awe of the gifts nature was bestowing upon me, the realisation of what nature and my life was trying to teach , and then I could sense a natural change happening within me.

Thankyou for the poetic reply.

Am reminded of a quote " When your fear touches someone's pain, it becomes pity, when your love touches someone's pain, it become compassion. Stephen Levine Pity, sympathy and empathy are all touching on other's pain. Sometimes we do this for ourselves and the question of "Why me " . or " how life can be so cruel " , "what do I do wrong " arise and trouble us more than the actual pain /sorrow being felt. We suffer, other's suffer too. Seeing it with love and as a larger game plan , makes us more compassionate towards others as well as ourselves. So true , when the author says Compassion is not a response to sorrow or suffering but can be practiced as a way of life.

That reminds me why it is a good practice to sit and settle down for a while, before sitting in meditation. It is always good to ground ourselves , before we close our eyes for meditation. Mark Nepo mentions the journey of becoming who we were born to be. Its an endless journey and a life long practice and we do not reach anywhere, we just grow. What is required is just embracing life in its entiriety . The inner transformation which happens when we just " do good and be good" , live a life based on values. do not get carried away what others think of us, living a life base don love and service is all that sees us through in this journey.

Dear Chelsea, sending you love and positive energies. Wayne Dyer ,says in the last para, that we have to remember the divinity within us. By forgiving the wrong doings, from the inner part of us, we not only free ourselves of the memories, we also fill up hearts with love , for ourselves, as well as the other.