Count your blessings and thank God

A beautiful message and my thoughts: -

A rich man looked through his window and saw a poor man picking something from his dustbin ... He said, Thank GOD, I'm not poor.

The poor man looked around and saw a naked man misbehaving on the street ... He said, Thank GOD, I'm not mad.

The mad man looked ahead and saw an ambulance carrying a patient ... He said, Thank GOD am not sick.

Then a sick person in hospital saw a trolley taking a dead body to the mortuary ... He said, Thank GOD, I'm not dead.

Only a dead person cannot thank God.

Why don't you thank GOD today for all your blessings and for the gift of life ... for another beautiful day.

​What is LIFE​?

To understand life better, you have to go to 3 locations:

​1. Hospital​

​2. Prison​

​3. Cemetery​

At the Hospital, you will understand that nothing is more beautiful than HEALTH.

In the Prison, you'll see that FREEDOM is the most precious thing.

At the Cemetery, you will realize that life is worth nothing. The ground that we walk today will be our roof tomorrow.

Sad Truth:  We all come with ​Nothing​ and we will go with ​Nothing​ ... Let us, therefore, remain humble and be thankful.Be grateful to God at all times for everything.

P.S: This message reminded me of a Bollywood movie that I saw ages ago where the protagonist of the movie Sanjay Dutt has disability with one of his leg and therefore uses a crutch to walk. One time he had to fight with bunch of hooligans and because of the disability, unlike normal Heroes who he was unable to do so. A distraught, devastated Sanjay Dutt walks into a Church and starts praying, questioning God, why was he born with this disability etc. Then in a typical Bollywood style, Church Bells starts ringing and suddenly Sanjay Dutt notices another person in the Church, who is praying. And that person has both his legs missing.

And, then these words are played from the background and can’t remember. May be a son on these lines.

Taqdeer banane wale tune to koi kami na ki,

Ab Kisko kya mila yeh to Mudaddar ki baat hai.

Somehow, these two lines stayed in my mind. Let me talk a little bit about the meaning of these two lines.

Taqdeer banane wale tune to koi kami na ki,

The one who makes fate, there is never anything lacking from your side (Oh God, you are always just, impartial and neutral). For, example when sun shines, his sun rays are spread everywhere without any distinction or partiality. When a farmer sows his seeds, some seeds fall on rocks and some in the soils and the ones that fall in the soil grow further. So, its interesting to think further. So what makes some seeds to fall on the rock and some in the soil? That's where the minute independence of a Soul comes into picture. It is the desire and action performed by a Soul that creates further situations and reactions.

Going further, we can see that in Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says this,

Bhagavad Gita: 9.29

samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu

na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah

ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya

mayi te tesu capy aham

I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.

One may question here that if Krishna is equal to everyone and no one is His special friend, then why does He take a special interest in the devotees who are always engaged in His transcendental service? But this is not discrimination; it is natural. Any man in this material world may be very charitably disposed, yet he has a special interest in his own children. The Lord claims that every living entity-in whatever form-is His son, and as such He provides everyone with a generous supply of the necessities of life. He is just like a cloud which pours rain all over, regardless whether it falls on rock or land or water. But for His devotees, He gives specific attention. Such devotees are mentioned here: they are always in Krishna consciousness, and therefore they are always transcendentally situated in Krishna.

Ab Kisko kya mila yeh to Mudaddar ki baat hai.

Now, whatever one gets or has, is their destiny (For example a date, place, time of birth and/or death are considered pre-determined and allows no control from any human being. Because of aspects like these, a person is said to be subjected to a Divine being and must accept with whatever he/she is given. And by doing what a person intends to do with life and accepting what he/she is gifted with, this particular person could create for himself a good life in the present and in the future. Muqaddar in this context is like one’s adherence to a pre-determined path for life. And although there are things that a person cannot change or cannot control, good things will still happen if this person will act on what he has control with using good deeds.)

Children with Special Needs

Children with Special Needs

I would like to share this amazing experience of today morning. I was on my way to work  and as soon as I got into the tram and I noticed this young man who happens to be affected by downs syndrome. How do I know? because I studied science, worked in Medical field for few years, I know that they look different from facial features, eyes etc. Then, as though reading my mind and thoughts, he immediately looked at me and smiled beautifully, as if to acknowledge that what I am thinking is true, but that doesn’t bother him. I immediately felt guilty for staring at him. I started thinking to myself. Why did I look at him? Is it because, he is different and I am trying to find some fault? Much to my solace, I realized that the reason I looked at him was because, I was impressed by the poise and charm this young man is carrying, inspire of the disability. No one is perfect in this world. Even the beautiful full moon has spots on him. We need to ignore the spots and appreciate the warm moon light that we get from him. Imagine, someone looking at you in a different way. It takes a great courage to take it and then smile back. Few minutes passed and my stop to get down had come. I looked at Mr.Champion and sure enough he looked back. This time, I smiled at him internally saying him, well done mate, Keep up the good work. And he smiled back and really made my day.

Ultimately, everyone is a Soul and everyone is special. Everyone is having their baggage of past Karma and destiny. We need to acknowledge this fact, respect their difference in the way they learn. we need to encourage them in their growth physically, mentally and also spiritually.

This also reminds me of the son of a doctor that I knew and met few times long time ago. He had this similar problem but, what an amazing memory he had. Once I went to see the Doctor and he was there. He recognized me, remember my name, what dress I was wearing during my last visit and what date and time it was. It was so unique and special to have such a memory and he was so innocent and sweet. Sometimes makes me that, how good it is to have the heart and mind of a child forever.

Once I was listening to a speech from the CEO of a company and during conversation he casually said that, since is Dyslexic, he learns things different than common people. I was impressed with him because, he openly, proudly admits he is different. 

In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna 9.29 says,

samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu,na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah- I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all.

As Prabhupada says "Everyone is God's son. So how God can be partial to one son and, better than the other son? That is not possible. That is our mistake. We write: "We trust in God," but we make discrimination. If you trust in God, then you must be equally kind and merciful to all living entities".

P.S: Find and appreciate the good in everyone especially those kids with special needs. Understand they are special, to encourage and motivate to bring out the best in them and not just show pity (just like this young chap on the tram who is so confident and positive). Now, I look forward to meeting these special Souls.