When I was invited to attend the 2018 SOPP, I felt very fortunate. It’s a like a dream come true. It was a privilege to be praying for the whole world together. I could see a sense of brotherhood in everyone’s eyes.—each and everyone was like my brother.
I am part of a prayer circle in India, and when I heard about the idea of the divine spark, it made me think of when I first joined in that prayer circle. It was held at my friend’s home, when I have joined the prayer circle initially, I found that I just sat in silence instead of offering any prayers. But then I saw my friend’s grandmother, who was maybe in her late 80s, opening up her prayer book and offering a prayer right from her heart. She didn’t think about what other people would think of her, or how her voice sounded. She just gave it one hundred percent and prayed from her heart. When I heard about the divine spark, I thought, it’s just like that—praying from the heart. It doesn’t matter how we pray, as long as we are praying from the heart. From that day on, I started praying again. And whenever I want an answer or solution in my life, I just pray. I know that it happened for a reason, and that it will manifest in a certain way in my life.
We all have a purpose in our life, and we are all in the field of service. When I see you, I can see the world in you, and when you see me, you can see the same in me. Any action which we take it affects the whole world. Masami Saionji said to us that whatever you do, if you do it from your heart, it will have an impact in the near future. It might not have an impact today or tomorrow, but that day after tomorrow is waiting for us, and it will manifest, for sure.
It was a privilege to be part of the SOPP. I learned a lot, and I will be taking back so many memories that will be with me forever. Thank you.
A Perfect start of Pilgrimage with a story of Pilgrim!! :)
I was gifted a print version of the stories of the pilgrimage. After settling down for an 8 hours flight towards Tokyo, I started reading the stories. The passenger sitting next to me was a little curious about what I was reading and after reading I thought to tag that piece of paper (a story) to her and shared a little about the ones who had taken up the pilgrimage and explained how these Pilgrimage stories now have become a part of our daily life, we read a story every day and share our reflections. After hearing this, she read that story and gave a big wide smiling.
I feel, Kindness is the best ice breaker and the ripples of it are endless. We started having a conversation and she shared about her 8 years in Tokyo, about people, culture and how she is now moving to California soon. In conversations, we came to know that we are also coming from the same city in India.
As I was about to reach Tokyo, I thought of sharing few heart-pins, smile cards and little gifts, But before I could do that, I was tagged with a smart card that would help me travel in the local transportation in city and she shared that she is not sure that how much balance is there in card but it will definitely be helpful. Further, she gave her email id and told me to contact if any help required. Then I shared the little gifts along with a smile card. While reading that she felt so happy and promised to take kind acts further!
I was just reflecting on how everyone around me is taking care of me unconditionally, (from handing over the envelope before my visit, writing and giving access to read such inspirational stories to everyone, by giving a smart card to anonymous (who is no more anonymous now :)).
Story from Nimo
I shared my room with Nimo and that will be another blog, but one thing we did was have few minutes of silence and reflected on the learnings of the day. One day Nimo shared a beautiful story of a 4th-grade student, Eric!
From one of his visits in California USA, after his performance, one 4th-grader student named Eric came on the stage and hugged Nimo and said: “Thank you for saving my life.” Listening to such words from such a young student was a little strange for Nimo too. Nimo asked about that boy to all teachers and then the teachers shared about the difficult journey of Eric till date. After hearing this Nimo thought to help or just to spend some time with him and his family after his school time. He took his contact and address details.
One good evening Nimo called Eric for the meeting in the evening. Eric agreed and they all along with Eric’s family went to an ice cream shop. Nimo asked Eric to take whatever ice cream he wanted and choose as many toppings as he wanted. After listening to Nimo intently, Eric chose a basic scoop of simple ice cream without any add-ons! After seeing this Nimo asked Eric why he chose to pick a single scoop and plain one while he had more options. Then Eric replied very beautifully, “Because I don’t want to be greedy, and I want to be grounded as I am!” listening such deep reflection from such a little kid was an ultimate learning for us.
I am part of a prayer circle in India, and when I heard about the idea of the divine spark, it made me think of when I first joined in that prayer circle. It was held at my friend’s home, when I have joined the prayer circle initially, I found that I just sat in silence instead of offering any prayers. But then I saw my friend’s grandmother, who was maybe in her late 80s, opening up her prayer book and offering a prayer right from her heart. She didn’t think about what other people would think of her, or how her voice sounded. She just gave it one hundred percent and prayed from her heart. When I heard about the divine spark, I thought, it’s just like that—praying from the heart. It doesn’t matter how we pray, as long as we are praying from the heart. From that day on, I started praying again. And whenever I want an answer or solution in my life, I just pray. I know that it happened for a reason, and that it will manifest in a certain way in my life.
We all have a purpose in our life, and we are all in the field of service. When I see you, I can see the world in you, and when you see me, you can see the same in me. Any action which we take it affects the whole world. Masami Saionji said to us that whatever you do, if you do it from your heart, it will have an impact in the near future. It might not have an impact today or tomorrow, but that day after tomorrow is waiting for us, and it will manifest, for sure.
It was a privilege to be part of the SOPP. I learned a lot, and I will be taking back so many memories that will be with me forever. Thank you.
A Perfect start of Pilgrimage with a story of Pilgrim!! :)
I was gifted a print version of the stories of the pilgrimage. After settling down for an 8 hours flight towards Tokyo, I started reading the stories. The passenger sitting next to me was a little curious about what I was reading and after reading I thought to tag that piece of paper (a story) to her and shared a little about the ones who had taken up the pilgrimage and explained how these Pilgrimage stories now have become a part of our daily life, we read a story every day and share our reflections. After hearing this, she read that story and gave a big wide smiling.
I feel, Kindness is the best ice breaker and the ripples of it are endless. We started having a conversation and she shared about her 8 years in Tokyo, about people, culture and how she is now moving to California soon. In conversations, we came to know that we are also coming from the same city in India.As I was about to reach Tokyo, I thought of sharing few heart-pins, smile cards and little gifts, But before I could do that, I was tagged with a smart card that would help me travel in the local transportation in city and she shared that she is not sure that how much balance is there in card but it will definitely be helpful. Further, she gave her email id and told me to contact if any help required. Then I shared the little gifts along with a smile card. While reading that she felt so happy and promised to take kind acts further!
I was just reflecting on how everyone around me is taking care of me unconditionally, (from handing over the envelope before my visit, writing and giving access to read such inspirational stories to everyone, by giving a smart card to anonymous (who is no more anonymous now :)).
Story from Nimo
I shared my room with Nimo and that will be another blog, but one thing we did was have few minutes of silence and reflected on the learnings of the day. One day Nimo shared a beautiful story of a 4th-grade student, Eric!
From one of his visits in California USA, after his performance, one 4th-grader student named Eric came on the stage and hugged Nimo and said: “Thank you for saving my life.” Listening to such words from such a young student was a little strange for Nimo too. Nimo asked about that boy to all teachers and then the teachers shared about the difficult journey of Eric till date. After hearing this Nimo thought to help or just to spend some time with him and his family after his school time. He took his contact and address details.
One good evening Nimo called Eric for the meeting in the evening. Eric agreed and they all along with Eric’s family went to an ice cream shop. Nimo asked Eric to take whatever ice cream he wanted and choose as many toppings as he wanted. After listening to Nimo intently, Eric chose a basic scoop of simple ice cream without any add-ons! After seeing this Nimo asked Eric why he chose to pick a single scoop and plain one while he had more options. Then Eric replied very beautifully, “Because I don’t want to be greedy, and I want to be grounded as I am!” listening such deep reflection from such a little kid was an ultimate learning for us.
Reflections
Share your thoughts or questions