“Kindness is a reflection of your soul…It is not an act …”

Swami ji said…

Many a time ; in fact, more often, than we would like to admit, haven’t we said – “आज उसकी खैर नहीं… उसको आने तो दो!”

• when we are angry with someone.
  Seething with anger, we wait impatiently for that person and when he finally appears before us, we feel a dam of emotions burst within us, as we let out all the anger, animosity and annoyance that was within us – and , then, there is nothing that can stop the tirade of words, that we target at the person in our crosshairs. Whether he is truly guilty or innocent of the charges levelled by us, is completely irrelevant to us, at that particular time period. However , if, we were to calmly re – play and analyse the manner in which we had reacted and behaved, during those moments, we would be appalled at our terrible conduct.The mental preparation rehearsal, re-enactment of the intended showdown – that is planned and played out by us, over and over again, in our mind – as we intend to hurt him in a way – that he hasn’t been before – is something that we would be ashamed of in calmer circumstances.

Have we ever asked ourselves as to why do we have to prepare ourselves – with harsh words; rehearse the rude attitude and unkind manner in which we would confront the blameworthy party or person? The answer is very simple. It is because God and Nature never planned us to be that way. Anger and hate do not come naturally to us. Babies are not born yelling and screaming. Hate and vitriol are worn by us, donned by us and then discarded after a while. In fact, for the kind souls who live amongst us – they find a lot of discomfort in working themselves up into any sort of rage. They feel drained after being angry. In fact, their mind does not allow anger to rise in them in situations, where the rest of us would be boiling in rage. We often term such people as soft and unfit for the real world; whereas, to be honest, such people are closer to the true nature of their ‘soul’ – one that is of peace and empathy. It is we , who actually live in a delusional world – where we feel we must ‘teach a lesson’, ‘give the other person a piece of our mind’, ‘keep a tight leash’ – as we are wrongly convinced that – that is the right way to deal with the world.

Thus, we need to understand that – ‘Kindness’ is not an ‘act’. It is a reflection of our souls.We were always meant to be so. Compassionate, considerate and courteous – as the soft glow that radiates from our ‘soul’ – has always been desirous of illuminating us with the light of these gem like qualities – rare to find, in many of us, today.

We are all God’s children, and thus are connected to one another. It is thus natural for us to be kind to others. When we see another human cry in pain, we momentarily forget the ‘ideals’ and ‘philosophies’ that are used to distinguish us from others , and , instead, sincerely hope and pray that he gets better and recovers quickly. This is because that is our true nature.
While we might feel ‘satisfied’ and ‘happy’ at the thought of causing someone misery – the entire scenario changes – when we actually come across someone who is hurt or is in pain. We will not come across anyone who is not willing to help and come to rescue others – even though he could be stunned and taken aback momentarily, in the beginning, at the scene before him. After all, we were made to help each other.

Can we even imagine for a second – the kind of individuals – each one of us would evolve into – if we were to remember that all that we do ; whatever we do – should flow out naturally from us – where there is no pretence in our behaviour; no artificiality in our smile ; no masks worn by us to cover our ‘real’ expressions of dislike and distrust in the other person – by pretending to be all good and noble? Our ‘soul’ does not wear two heads. Does it? Then why should we distort and convolute the divine shape and nature of the ‘soul’ through our odious, ignoble and ill – thought ‘acts’ and reflect our ‘soul’ in poor light. The ‘soul’ radiates divine love and heavenly radiance and that is what it would be happiest to see each one of us do – love all ; hate none ; to treat all those around us with respect and humility – bowing in salutation to the ‘soul’ that resides in each one of us.