CHANGING THE WORLD FOR ONE PERSON

To reach our ashram at Chodan island, we need to cross the Mandovi river by the government run ferry service. As the ferry vessel was docking the other night, it scooped a tiny little fish out of the water onto the ground. The tiny fish was flapping desperately to live. I somehow managed to put the fish back into the river. The fish was happy to have got to live more and I was happy to be of some help to this small friend. I remembered a quote I had read long ago - "Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person." How true it is. Whenever we get opportunities to be of help to someone, we should immediately grab it and try to do the best we can. Who knows, we may just save a life.

Whenever, the ferryboat docks I try to be alert to look out for any fish that needs my help. Whether you travel in ferry or not, remember, there are always "fishes" out there who will need your help. Be watchful, be helpful.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

TRANSFORMING CURSES TO BLESSINGS - A tale of two trees

"Perhaps someday I'll crawl back home, beaten, defeated. But not as long as I can make stories out of my heartbreak, beauty out of sorrow." - Sylvia Plath, American poet and writer. Who doesn't like stories. Stories have always been loved by human civilization for eons probably because in the story of others, humans find semblance of their own stories. Some stories are entertaining, some inspiring, some touching and some enlightening. Here is one such story from the Srimad-Bhagvatam which contains all these aspects. This is a story of two trees - a story of the journey from bondage to freedom. This is a story of hope - a story of transformation. Even though this story happened 5000 years back, the lessons from it are still relevant and fresh. As you read this story, you may find clues to write or rewrite your personal story of transformation, hope, bliss and freedom. THE TURNING POINT This is the story of the deliverance of the twin Yamala Arjuna trees by L...

LIFE BEYOND LABELS

One of the main pastimes of the mind is to label. It loves labeling, in fact it thrives and exits on labeling . Labeling is a wonderful tool to learn concepts by making it simple, but when it comes to experiencing life, it doesn't work so well for us especially if our labels of life are negative. Simple words, labels affect us in ways beyond our wildest imagination. They shape our views, color our lives with different perspectives. These mental labels affect practically every aspect of our life - be it personal, relationships or our experience of life in general. The mental labels start right from our birth. We identify ourselves as our body, our name, our gender. Then as we grow older, so many other labels add up to our identity. Our education, our profession, our economic status. What others tell about who we are slowly become important to us, our new labels. If someone repeatedly calls us ' useless ', slowly that turns into a label. It's not that only others ...

SUFFERING BLISSFULLY

" Whether we fear pain and suffering or not, pain and suffering will come to everyone. Why not keep our minds focused on where we want to go? " - Radhanath Swami PURE SUFFERING As soon as one takes to the role of being a preacher, one thing that invariably happens is that people come to you explaining their woes and sorrows. Probably because they see you as someone who knows a little more and is a little more spiritual than them and because they trust you, they open up their life in front of you. And the conversation ends with they sincerely asking you to pray for them. In my little experience, I have seen so many people come to me explaining their struggles. I am always left wondering about the phenomenon of life where everyone seems to have a unique problem of their own. Someone suffers from a deadly physical disease or disability; someone suffers from a failing relationship; someone suffers due to financial constraints; someone suffers from natural calamities; someone su...

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog