Blessings At Our Doorstep
ServiceSpace
--Harshida Mehta
2 minute read
Jan 22, 2015

 



It was late Friday night. Dinesh and I were in our bedroom, and most of the lights in our house were out when, all of a sudden, we start hearing these loud thump, thump, thump noises at our window.

Initially it sounded like gun shots. Although there was the initial reaction of fear, we had to do something. When I managed to sneak in a look, I saw a medley of eggs, oranges, and such coming at our window.

I remember the first time our house was egged, and just feeling voilated by the random act of vandalism. As I cleaned up the egg yolks from our outside walls and windows the next morning, I did it consciously and took it as a practice in equanimity. Nipun told me a story of Howard Thurman, whose neighbor would throw chicken broth over the fence everyday simply because of the color of his skin; but then he planted some seeds in that soil, and many years later, when the tensions had eased, he offered fruit fruit from those seeds back to the neighbor as a peace offering. Similarly, when Rev. Heng Sure heard of it, he underscored the importance of sending love to them because it just could be a future monk coming to your doorstep: "You know, as a kid growing up in Ohio, I once egged a home too. At that time, you just don't know any better."

This time, since I happened to be home, I decided to go out. After turning on all the lights of the house, I hastily put on my slippers and walked out. I knew that all kinds of things could go wrong, but having hosted so many people through weekly Awakin Circle, there was a quiet kind of confidence that ultimately all strangers are my kin.

This time, I didn't just want to practice equanimity -- but also compassion.

I go outside -- and see what? Much to my jaw-dropping surprise, I see three cute kids. They couldn't have been more than 10 or 11 years old. So I called out to them, "Hey guys, thank you for the oranges. Can I have them so they don't go to waste?" Seeing me, they naturally started to run. I began to walk in their direction and called out again, "Wait! Wait! Don't be afraid, I'm not going to do anything. I just want to talk. And I can use your oranges." Unfortunately, they just ran and never looked back. :)

In my heart, I felt a sense of motherly connection. More than forgiveness, it was more like an effortless flow of compassion -- "Oh, may their journeys be blessed." The same thing Dinesh and I have tried to practice with all the other Awakin guests over the last 17 years. What a great blessing all those people left us with! 

 

Posted by Harshida Mehta on Jan 22, 2015


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