“Heal the world; make it a better place; for you and for me…………..” sang Michael Jackson. All of us dream about living in a happy and peaceful world. And very heroically we step out for changing the world around us. When stuck in a fixed thought we refuse to see the reality. We feel we CAN perform as big a feat as changing the world around us. But soon we realise that its much easier to change our outlook, our thought patterns than expect the world to change. Mahatma Gandhi's topmost quote for changing the world is "Be the change you want to see in the world."
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."-says Leo Tolstoy
Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather.
Definitely, this would need thousands of cows' skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.
Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, "Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don't you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?"
The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a "shoe" for himself.
There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.
The Hawaiin practice Ho'oponopono which we discussed in our earlier post basically works on this principle. The problems that we encounter are not external but lies within ourselves; to change the external reality we have to undergo some internal changes.
“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves,” says Mahatma Gandhi.
Remake ourselves? We've only heard of remake of old movies and old songs. What is the remake that Gandhi is talking about? The main road blocks in our path towards change are, worry, anger, ingratitude, unkindness, dishonesty, etc. If we can overcome them we can “remake” ourselves.
If you go to learn Reiki, the first thing they tell you to follow is these 5 principles:
Just for today, I’ll give thanks to my many blessings
Just for today, I’ll not worry
Just for today, I’ll not be angry
Just for today, I’ll do my work honestly
Just for today, I’ll be kind to every living thing.
Obviously you don’t need to be Reiki student to follow these. These are meant for everyone. If we sincerely practice these simple affirmations every day, we can see a sea of change in our own selves.
The following is inscribed on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in the Westminster Abbey (1100 A.D)
"When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older, and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.
But it, too, seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.
And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.
From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and who knows, I may have even changed the world."
I bow down to this Bishop. Amen
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."-says Leo Tolstoy
Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather.
Definitely, this would need thousands of cows' skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.
Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, "Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don't you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?"
The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a "shoe" for himself.
There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.
The Hawaiin practice Ho'oponopono which we discussed in our earlier post basically works on this principle. The problems that we encounter are not external but lies within ourselves; to change the external reality we have to undergo some internal changes.
“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves,” says Mahatma Gandhi.
Remake ourselves? We've only heard of remake of old movies and old songs. What is the remake that Gandhi is talking about? The main road blocks in our path towards change are, worry, anger, ingratitude, unkindness, dishonesty, etc. If we can overcome them we can “remake” ourselves.
If you go to learn Reiki, the first thing they tell you to follow is these 5 principles:
Just for today, I’ll give thanks to my many blessings
Just for today, I’ll not worry
Just for today, I’ll not be angry
Just for today, I’ll do my work honestly
Just for today, I’ll be kind to every living thing.
Obviously you don’t need to be Reiki student to follow these. These are meant for everyone. If we sincerely practice these simple affirmations every day, we can see a sea of change in our own selves.
The following is inscribed on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in the Westminster Abbey (1100 A.D)
"When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older, and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.
But it, too, seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.
And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.
From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and who knows, I may have even changed the world."
I bow down to this Bishop. Amen
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