On a festive day, Sneha was travelling with her 2 young kids and husband to meet her parents. On the way they stopped at a restaurant to grab a bite. When they were sitting, her 2 year old son started waving from the high chair saying “Hello” to someone sitting across the restaurant. To Sneha’s dismay it was an old man dressed in dirty clothes, unshaved, unwashed & looked homeless. This person also started waving back at the baby saying “hi there baby”, “you are big boy”. Sneha and her husband looked at each other and found it embarrassing that their kids is waving to this person and tried distracting the kid. As the meal continued, the baby kept on waving to the person and the man kept on talking. She couldn’t take this anymore and told her husband to leave from the place. On her way out, the baby reached out to this new friend with his arms open indicating “pick me up”. Sneha saw the old man’s eyes asking ‘please, will you let me hold your baby’. There was no time for an answer as the baby propelled in old man’s arms. For few moments there was this love communion between the baby & old man. Sneha could see tears in the man’s eyes as her son laid his head on his shoulders. He gently rocked the baby and said to Sneha “please take care of the baby’ and “God bless you, you have given me my festival gift”. She rushed out towards her car with tears flowing in her eyes and saying in her heart “God please forgive me.”
There are countless times, we fail to see the real person behind the cover- the goodness of the person behind the mask. We are deeply conditioned by societal bias, race, religion, caste to not see the good. If we intentionally train ourselves through mindfulness practice of loving and trusting, we can pause and look deeper inside a person’s aspirations, to look through the gold that shines through and this will be our own greatest healing power.
Albert Einstein said “I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’ This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves.” Einstein believed that there is compassion in us and that if we can perceive and trust this goodness it gives rise to peace, cooperation and well-being. He also contrasted that mistrusting not sensing basic goodness can lead to armouring, defence and aggression.
So let’s open ourselves and see the sacred, the inherent gold in each other which is so relevant to the times that we live in.
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