I write this a day after my beautiful place of birth was bombed by three separate attacks by terrorists killing and maiming its citizens randomly only in order to uphold the twisted idea of patriotism and brotherhood espoused by its perpetrators.
It is the perfect time for me to question the idea of 'acceptance'. Am I to accept what happened to my city? Am I to accept it as a non-violent follower of Gandhi and his teachings of peace that brought my country to freedom from Colonialism?
I know the mind is screaming at the top of its voice, to avenge this attack. An eye for an eye. The argument veering towards righteousness using morality and justice as its excuse. They were wrong, they need to be punished. Your city was attacked and it is your moral duty to fight back and "correct" the equation.
And then, I received an email about a young Indian techie who started a helpline using twitter in the spur of the moment which grew from a list of 5 people willing to help victims to 500 in a few hours. It made me remember the power of acceptance just when I was on the brink of forgetting.
The power that flows within when we accept what is/has happened and focus on whats possible. Were we to give ourselves the gift of accepting what is more often, we would be enormously grateful for the hidden power that lies beneath. The power to transform oneself from feeling helpless and angry to feeling hopeful and calm.
There is never a good reason to avenge anything or anyone. We all live in a time when the slogan "war on terror" does not seem comic-tragic, if not highly misguided. What does it say when one nation can declare war as its primary intention to bring about peace?? With what higher moral authority can that nation then simultaneously denounce the act of terror by another?
I pray that we all are reminded of the blessing that acceptance brings into our lives. Acceptance as the magical treasure trove within us which can light the way through our darkest hour if we are willing to believe in its promise of total transformation.
It is the perfect time for me to question the idea of 'acceptance'. Am I to accept what happened to my city? Am I to accept it as a non-violent follower of Gandhi and his teachings of peace that brought my country to freedom from Colonialism?
I know the mind is screaming at the top of its voice, to avenge this attack. An eye for an eye. The argument veering towards righteousness using morality and justice as its excuse. They were wrong, they need to be punished. Your city was attacked and it is your moral duty to fight back and "correct" the equation.
And then, I received an email about a young Indian techie who started a helpline using twitter in the spur of the moment which grew from a list of 5 people willing to help victims to 500 in a few hours. It made me remember the power of acceptance just when I was on the brink of forgetting.
The power that flows within when we accept what is/has happened and focus on whats possible. Were we to give ourselves the gift of accepting what is more often, we would be enormously grateful for the hidden power that lies beneath. The power to transform oneself from feeling helpless and angry to feeling hopeful and calm.
There is never a good reason to avenge anything or anyone. We all live in a time when the slogan "war on terror" does not seem comic-tragic, if not highly misguided. What does it say when one nation can declare war as its primary intention to bring about peace?? With what higher moral authority can that nation then simultaneously denounce the act of terror by another?
I pray that we all are reminded of the blessing that acceptance brings into our lives. Acceptance as the magical treasure trove within us which can light the way through our darkest hour if we are willing to believe in its promise of total transformation.
