2024
"Why me?" asked the victim of an auto accident
A person met with a serious auto accident in which his leg was fractured was tormented by the question "Why did that car hit me and not the other person who was close by?". When he was asked the counter question "Why not you?", his anguish dissipated completely in a few days as reported by him after a few months when he met me at Albany Hindu Temple.
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I read a story with a similar theme in the Reader’s Digest in the “Life like that” section in 1960’s. A police officer pulled over a car for speeding. The driver said to the officer “So many other drivers are going above the speed limit, even faster than me. Why are you targeting me?” The officer asked him “Sir, do you go fishing?”. The driver replied “Yes, I do sometimes.” The officer asked “Do you catch all the fish in the water?”. The driver silently accepted the ticket.
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A related idea comes to my mind - that of losing my 10 year old brother 'Ramu' when I was in my early twenties. When tormented by the recurring question "why did God take away my dear brother at the premature age of 10?". When an inner voice asked me the counter question "who told you that your dear brother will live up to ripe old age?", my crippling anguish for his loss plummeted instantly!
You can read the full article "The living lessons from my brother Ramu's death at 10".
Feb
Sharing 'counting breaths meditation' on the cruise ship
I went with my family on a cruise trip around Hawaii. When on the ship I always carried the book "The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture" by Gabor Mate, one of my favorite authors. Some unexpected experiences -
The young attendant at a fruit counter noticed the above book in my hand and said "I like that book you are carrying." I don't know how he read the title! He said he had two websites and has plans to do help people. I told him about my website for meditation. He gave me his number and I sent the link to this website to him.
A young girl cleaning the tables saw the same book and said "I like the book you are reading". I acknowledged my happiness and said then you may be interested in my meditation website. She didn't Ok. After some time she came back to me and asked for my site. I pulled up the site in my phone, pressed the share icon and gave it to her to type in her number. She did and got the link to the site.
There was a sunroom on the top deck which was quiet and I meditated a few times in that room. One day when I entered that room with empty hands to sit and meditate there. A young man in his low twenties, sitting in a chair said "I like the book you are reading". That meant that he saw that book in my hand, somewhere on the ship, remembered me and the book and said so! I briefly explained the theme of the book and said her may be interested in the simple meditation method.I have been teaching for last 23 years. He said he was. I asked him if he had about 15 minutes to learn and experience the meditation. He said "yes". I demonstrated the feeling mode and we jointly practiced it. When I was teaching him the 'Counting mode' I noticed that he was getting distracted by something behind me. When I looked back, I found a middle aged man sitting in a chair watching us with interest. I asked him if he was interested in a simple meditation technique. He eagerly said "yes" and explained he was already practicing another meditation but would like to learn from me. Then I taught both of them the feeling mode and counting mode and we practiced together. Then I explained the tip mode and segment modes and asked them to follow the instructions in the website, including the videos, The young man gave his number and I texted the link to my website to him. He forwarded the same link to the other person right away!
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