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A few of us ended up going with Jayeshbhai to a nearby forest for a walk recently. As soon as we stepped into the forest, a light drizzle of rain started, the first of the season after a hot summer. It was very refreshing to experience the drizzle and instead of allowing our "adult-self" to run for cover, we decided to let our "inner child" play as we went deeper into the forest to get drenched in natures goodness.
It was a beautiful walk and we were feeling blessed to have some enriching conversations with Jayeshbhai about the gifts that mother nature keeps giving us. At one point, he looked at a decaying tree and remarked "All it's life this tree gave of itself, through its oxygen, its fruits, and its flowers. Now even in its death, it is enriching the soil around it by dissolving itself into the very earth it came from." And we all three were filled with such gratitude that we ended up hugging some trees to express our love.
As the heavenly smell of the wet earth, cooing peacocks and dancing trees took us into deeper states of joy, our conversation shifted to a particular passage from a popular Indian prayer "Om Jai Jagadeesh Hare".
The lines were "Vishay vikaar mitao, paap haro deva,
Shraddha bhakti badhao, santan ki seva"
Jayeshbhai lovingly explained the deeper meaning behind these lines, and we had many a-ha moments as we continued walking and reflecting on these lines. We all loved the prayer so much that Jayeshbhai proposed we send it out as this week's Maitri Tune.
As we came out of the forest, we felt pulled to visit an old temple dedicated to the Divine Feminine nearby. As we came closer to the temple we heard a familiar tune humming from the temple radio and the lines we heard were
As we all stood speechless and smiling at this divine play of synchronicity, the priest of the temple beckoned us to come inside the sanctum sanctorum and invited us to do the daily evening aarti to the backdrop of our this week's Maitri Tune "Om Jai Jagadeesh Hare"! (Full Lyrics here, alongside photo of Jayeshbhai below.)
