Cold And Warm In Japan
I was recently looking at the notes from our unforgettable Gandhi 3.0 gathering -- the experiences I was given, the beautiful stories I was able to listen to, the amazing souls and smiles I encountered, and the magic filled moments that came up because of the pure intention of the gathering, and its continuing ripples. All so beautiful. The little sparrow with his legs high up, the infinite possibility that comes from not knowing, letting go of knowledge and going with the flow, serving with humility, thinking small and sharing. It was all deeply imprinted in my soul. I mean, I can't even start to share how much I have learned, felt in tears, received in the form of so much love, embrace, wisdom, encouragement. So I won't start on that. :)
Deep down, I want live in service. Like so many of you, I want my actions to be helpful, my eyes to be filled with love, and my heart to be open.
As I was returning from India, I landed in Japan that was full of snow. I was very tired and accidentally took another person's bag out of the airport, so I had to go all the way to return it. I wrote a letter of apology for the person whose bag I had picked up, and left a small gift. My follow-up train, because of the snow, ended up getting really really delayed. 9 hours delayed. Finally we boarded, and I couldn't wait to get back. But the train kept stopping every couple of minutes. At 3AM, they then told us to exit the train since it couldn't proceed further. I was getting very tired and very cold.
Just then, I remembered Harsh and his mother's shawl. I remembered so many of you. Next to me was a little girl (a foreigner), whose father was blowing warm air through his mouth to her feet. She was very cold (and it was very very cold), so the father took off his jacket and covered her up. I knew this was my opportunity, so I took off my coat and offered it to him. He wouldn't take it, so I offerred my mittens so she can put it over his daughter's shoes and keep her feet warm. In their language, he asks the little girl if she wanted the mittens and she said yes -- and so it went. We smiled at each other, and I was so happy that my whole body felt so much warmer than when I was fully protected by my winter ware.
I was so grateful. To even realize that I had this choice, that every moment brings along this unspoken invitation to be of service, is such a blessing. I took out some candies I had and distributed it to those around me.
Deep down, I want live in service. Like so many of you, I want my actions to be helpful, my eyes to be filled with love, and my heart to be open.
As I was returning from India, I landed in Japan that was full of snow. I was very tired and accidentally took another person's bag out of the airport, so I had to go all the way to return it. I wrote a letter of apology for the person whose bag I had picked up, and left a small gift. My follow-up train, because of the snow, ended up getting really really delayed. 9 hours delayed. Finally we boarded, and I couldn't wait to get back. But the train kept stopping every couple of minutes. At 3AM, they then told us to exit the train since it couldn't proceed further. I was getting very tired and very cold.
Just then, I remembered Harsh and his mother's shawl. I remembered so many of you. Next to me was a little girl (a foreigner), whose father was blowing warm air through his mouth to her feet. She was very cold (and it was very very cold), so the father took off his jacket and covered her up. I knew this was my opportunity, so I took off my coat and offered it to him. He wouldn't take it, so I offerred my mittens so she can put it over his daughter's shoes and keep her feet warm. In their language, he asks the little girl if she wanted the mittens and she said yes -- and so it went. We smiled at each other, and I was so happy that my whole body felt so much warmer than when I was fully protected by my winter ware.
I was so grateful. To even realize that I had this choice, that every moment brings along this unspoken invitation to be of service, is such a blessing. I took out some candies I had and distributed it to those around me.
Posted by Yuka Saionji on Apr 3, 2014
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4 Past Reflections
On Apr 3, 2014 Audrey Lin wrote:
Wow, what a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing. I was just feeling cold, but now am a lot warmer after reading this! :-)
On Apr 4, 2014 Alan wrote:
I loved reading your touching reflections, but for whatever reason, I especially loved reading this: "Deep down, I want live in service. Like so many of you, I want my actions to be helpful, my eyes to be filled with love, and my heart to be open." A mirror across the oceans. It is powerful and touching to think of so many of us around the world holding this deep aspiration, particularly at this current time in Earth's evolution.
On Apr 4, 2014 Radha Ivaturi wrote:
Thank you Yuka for sharing this!. Like Alan the words "I want to live in service .." really resonated with me . Powerful intention . I offer my prayer that our Pure intentions be realized!!
On Apr 3, 2014 Siddharth Sthalekar wrote:
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