We were staying at a little hotel near Rome. It fronted on a popular beach where hundreds of Italians came with their families: some swam or lounged on the warm sand, others jogged or walked along the promenade, and still others were there to see and be seen. It was a charming little slice of life. But early each morning when the beach was abandoned, a different scene caught my eye. Around 7:00 a.m. a car would pull into one of the parking slots, and an old woman would get out. Then she would reach into the back for a bag and trudge slowly toward the sand.
It was feeding time, and her bag was full of table scraps. From our balcony spot, I could see many cats start to wind their way toward her, some from a long distance away. How they knew she had arrived was a mystery. There was no obvious signal, so maybe it was the magnetism of her love. And this scene is repeated each day the world over. During a walk one time in a park near our ashram in New Delhi, we saw many people bringing food not only for the birds, but—to our amazement—also for the ants.
The human heart has an infinite capacity for love, and when kindness flows, we are not only uplifted, but often healed of some old karma. In the early years of Ananda there was a lovely young woman whose hands mysteriously became covered with warts. An astrologer told her to avoid any combination of garlic and milk and to feed the birds every day. Within two weeks, all the warts had fallen off her hands. When one’s life is filled with little acts of kindness, it begins to heal not only them, but everyone they touch.
When asked, “What is your religion?” the Dali Lama simply replied, “Kindness.”
Here in India and around the world, Devi and I are often told stories of how a kind word, or a mere glance, from Swami Kriyananda changed a person’s life. We heard a story only last week from someone who had been suffering deeply from the loss of a loved one. She had tried everything to move on in her life, but was unable to do so. At a satsang with Swami Kriyananda, he caught and held her eye from a distance. She said she felt a wave of love and blessing in his glance, and her heart was instantly and permanently healed.
There was a popular saying a few years ago that achieved a kind of immortality through bumper stickers: “Do random acts of kindness.” In a world divided against itself in so many ways, the only cure is love. Love, being an eternal, divine quality, is stronger than all the bombs and hatred, which ultimately will pass away. Little acts of kindness, especially to strangers and the helpless, are the cure for today’s divisions. Find a way to be a channel of Divine Mother’s love, and your “karmic warts” will begin to fall away.
With kindness,
Nayaswami Jyotish
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19 Comments
Dear Nayaswami Jyotish Ji,
Thank you for this lovely blog :)
Joy,
Prem
Thank you for the love and kindness you and Devi Ji show us dear Jyotish Ji … I haven’t seen Swamiji in real life but I am blessed and eternally grateful for the compassion, kindness, love and inspiration that comes from both of you because of Him.
Amen
Love and kindness comes from your heart, which is a path towards God
Yes I knew in my child hood it’s a great regular activity in our village, thanks for the culture and being observer.
what a lovely think to read.
I heard the same story from a woman in the US who felt that meeting Swami Kriyananda had initiated her into the religion of kindness and she felt that ever since then kindness was her personal religion.
aum
pat
Thank you Jyotish,
Such a powerful reminder to hold no thought but kindness in one’s countenance. The power of Love is all there is. Thank you for all you do…and for your presence on this earth plane.
In Divine Mother’s
Rebecca
Thank you for this beautiful story. You know how much it touched my heart.
Your sharings help.
AUM AUM AUM
Thank you Jyotishji. ??
Thank you Jyotishji!
Pranam Ji
We Feel the same Wave of Kindness from both of You,Our Gratitude to Swamiji for Having Given us , both of you ,The Spiritual Guradians of Our Time. Aum.
With Gratitude
R Sundararajan
Nice! thanks!
Thanks for nice message.Pranam.
I love the idea of “karmic warts.”
Dear Nayaswami Jyotish, Bless you again for this beautiful article with such heart -warming themes/statements, each one every bit as humbly poignant as the other and I felt overwhelmingly tearful with the Dalai Lama’s reply of his religion as being ‘kindness’. Each time I read an Ananda blog seems to coincide with something in my life and strengthens my resolve to return kindness for unkindness time and again. God Bless and joy to all for such continuous inspiration and encouragement.
Dearest Jyotish,
Feeding the ants…. you have no idea how apropos that is for me!
Thank you for your continued inspiration!
Being kind and feeling kindness opens the heart, and helps me remember that “we are all in this together.”
It helps me be less judgmental or critical of myself and others, and with kindness I can open and blossom to include so much more as I love.
Thank You Thank You Thank You.
Jai Guru!
Aum Guru
Magnetism of love . Amen