Its a secret!

Last Saturday, as I walked into the Royal Cup Coffee Shop, I was greeted by Rajeev.  He said that a package had arrived for me, I asked him from whom, he said he didn’t know.  I couldn’t figure out why a package would come to our Seva Cafe location and not to our PO BOX Address but I was too distracted to try to piece the logic together. 

I was setting up for our regular Seva Cafe location when Rajeev finally handed the package over to me.  It had already been opened.  I looked on the Priority Mail package and noticed that instead of putting their name and address, the sender had only left the word: “Smile!”.  I immediately recognized that this was something special in my hands and consequently a desire to share this gift with others arose.  I took the package over to the where five new volunteers were sitting and I showed them the package.  Ever since they arrived the new volunteers were asking me questions of what the Seva Cafe was.  Here, I thought, was an opportunity to show them in action.  Before I opened the package, I told them that these are the kinds of things that happen here.

We opened the Priority Mail package and inside we discovered a book, a note, and a self-addressed envelope.  I first proceeded to read the note out loud:

Sukh bhai,
I read this book from start to finish in one sitting.  I have never done this before.  I hope this book finds you well and has the same profound effect on you that it had on me.  I know this breaks the rules, but I would like you to read my secret before mailing it.  Thank you for helping me,
SMILE!

I contemplated the latter part of the letter for a moment.  Not quite understanding what rules were being broken and what this person’s secret was, I proceeded to look at the book for some clues.  The book was entitled: “The Secret Lives of Men and Women“.  It was a compilation of selected secrets submitted to www.postsecret.com.  Individuals anywhere could send in their secrets by depicting them on a postcard.  It allows them to share their common humanity with others, and relieves them of a burden that they may have been carrying for a long time.  I opened the book to a random page and the ‘realness’ of the human experience hit me immediately.  A postcard with a woman confessing that she is more afraid of aging than of dying, and another photograph of a priest with ”Some Days, it feels more like a noose!!” written on his clerical collar.

Then it hit me.  The self-addressed envelope contained the secret of this anonymous sender, and they actually wanted me to read their secret before it made its way to postsecret.com.  I looked inside the envelope unsure of what secrets were awaiting me.  I pulled out, with little surprise, a Smile Card.  One the smile card was hand written the anonymous senders secret: “I can’t give gifts or do community service without expecting something in return.”  … and at the bottom in big bold letters: “Not Anymore!“ 

In that moment, we all wondered if we do service without expectation.  Maybe that was a secret that all of us were harboring and was unleashed through the courage of this anonymous sender.  I also thought about all the secrets that I keep locked up in myself.  How the things that actually make me human are the things that I try so hard to hide from others.  I keep my own pain and anger locked away so that others won’t think poorly of me.  That’s my secret.

Letter to my nephew

Happy New Year Pravir,

I wish more peace and happiness for you this year.  Time is a concept that none of us really understand.  How one moment actually changes to the next.  Why space exists, why movement exists, why all of this has created all of us?  What is it all supposed to be about, what are we supposed to be doing?  At best, we are experimenting with our time here, either to create a legacy that will last beyond us, or to experience more happiness than the moments that have already past.  At best, we are always stepping into the unknown.

Life, a movement from one unknown to another.

You may be too young to understand some things, but I know that you already understand the one thing that matters most in life: Love.  Your grandfather, grandmother, father, mother and ¨chachu¨ love you very much.

The world belongs to you, and you to the world.  Everything is a circle and we are all points along this circle.  Anything you do to one part of the circle eventually touches every other part of the circle.  It is never ending.  What more is that everything that is inside the circle is the same as what is outside the circle.  Emptiness inside, emptiness outside.  Infinity inside, infinity outside.  Only a thin line separates what is inside from what is outside.  That is a circle.

I´m in Quito, Ecuador right now.  I went with 15 other friends who wanted to make the world a better place.  I think of you often.  How the part of the world that is somehow brighter because of our actions will somehow directly ripple brightness into your life.  If everything is truly a circle that I have faith that what we do here will be good for you there.  What is good for others, is good for me, is good for you.

I love you.  You are in my thoughts, in my dreams, and in my convictions.

In this part of the world they say ¨Feliz Ano Nuevo¨ (Happy New Year).  Maybe one day we will have a conversation without words.

People Everywhere

When we see the kids from the streets here, they are just like the kids we met in India, or the kids we met in South Africa and Kenya.  Every face that i look at feels familiar for some reason.  As if they are already known to me.  I cant speak their language yet the love in their hearts and the love in my heart is the same.  We are all known to each other.

There are many good people that we are meeting here.  They work with determination, with faith, and with unconditional love for the people.  We heard a Christian Pastor speak about his life and his inspiration today.  If I would have closed my eyes I would have felt as if I was back home at Manav Sadhna in India, listening to Virenbhai, Jayeshbhai and Anarbhen speak about what they do there.

There is love everywhere and goodness pervades through every soul on this earth.  We are fortunate to be surrounded by people and opportunities that help bring that out in every moment.

Wake up call

I woke up to a knock on the door and a sweet voice gently soothing me back to reality.  I was dreaming of a far away land.  Enter Ann Nguyen. 

Each year we embark on our service vacation trips, Ann Nguyen always participates.  No, she doesn’t hop on the plane with us but she is with us on every step of journey.  Each year, before we leave, Ann makes sure she gets the names of all the travellers and brings a gift for each and every single one.  This year was no different.

I had forgotton about our breakfast appointment and slept in from the late hours the night before.  Instead of dismissing the meeting, Ann decided to swing by my home.  It is the day we leave for our trip and I am awoken by one of the sweetest sounds known to mankind.  In that moment, it felt as if my own mother was calling for me.

She carried with her 16 cards for each of the travellers.  She told the story of the woman who helped make the cards: a sister who spent part of her life in Peru, one of the countries we will be visiting.  She mentioned how this woman, Sister Grace, had been badly burned at one point because of a prank some youngsters pulled.  To this day, she doesn’t have any ill will towards these kids.

Before Ann left, she told me that she and others will keep all sixteen of us in their thoughts and prayers.  I thought to myself: what power, we haven’t even left for our trip and yet there is already a force of support behind us.  I know that Sister Grace’s thoughts, Ann’s Prayers and all those wishing us well will help make our own efforts in South America more meaningful.

Sukh

Cotton Balls - my experience in Houston

Hello All,
I just returned from a 5 day trip to Houston. Below is a summary of events I sent to the folks there. I thought I would share with everyone so that we can see that wonderful people exist everywhere. Everyone I met, through some connection with Maushmi, made me realize how lucky we are to have each other.
Sukh

——————————————————————————–

Love exists everywhere. You can find it in the plane seat next to you, in cotton balls that lie scattered across the floor, and in strings of pasta that unexpectedly find their way to your plate.

It was extraordinary. Who would have thought that I would find newfound determination in the heart of Texas. People make their way across many oceans to find themselves. Some walk for days in search of truth. My pilgrimage takes me to Texas. To an Italian Restaurant where the noise of our neighbors doesn’t disturb the silence in our hearts.

Words are never enough, so with folded hands I bow.

Wednesday night. As soon as I arrived I was handed a set of keys. One of them was to a home, another to a car, and yet they all unlocked something deep within me. Generosity. Afterwards I ate a hand cooked Gujarati meal. If you haven’t tried Maushmi’s Mom’s rice pudding you must insist on a meal at their place!!!

Thursday. Maushmi took me to the Houston Hospice. I saw the rooms where some of the past Compassion Cell Magic had taken place. I breathed the entire place in: the volunteers, the visitors, and the current residents. I felt proud that I was part of an organization that had done some good there. It was an honor to walk through those floors.

I made my way to the Thomas Street AIDS clinic that had been decorated by some volunteers the night before. I breathed in all that they had left behind. I envisioned the volunteers working together to beautify the clinic. I then looked into the eyes of the patients. Their faces broken down by years of pain, stigma and concern. This quote kept running through my mind: “Our happiness is greatest when we contribute to the happiness of others”. Each and every decoration left behind was a sign of hope to a disenfranchised community that is forgotten by so many. I bumped into Jackie, the volunteer coordinator. She gave me the history of the clinic and told me the story of how she lost her son to the disease. My tour naturally ended at the meditation hall. I sat there for 30 minutes thinking of how much goodness had been generated at this clinic the night before.

Although I was full of words at the time, thinking of Thursday evening now leaves me speechless. Goodness flowing in every direction. We questioned ’service’, our own human nature, and the genuinity of our desire to make the world a better place. In that moment, my world became a better place. I went from being a Californian, to a guest, to a family member in a few short minutes. Houston became home.

Friday. I met Margo. As with everyone else, I felt as if I had known her before. We talked about this movement of life that we are all engaged in, and what it means to be a parent in today’s world. I felt like her son.

Saturday. Every week should have a day of fun. … and everyone should have a friend like Katania. She walked in with bags full of things to play with. We spent the entire afternoon making cards, necklaces, drawing, gluing cotton balls, laughing, and most importantly nourishing something within ourselves that we had been neglecting for some time. It was all inspired by this one quote: “Compassion for others begins with kindness to yourself”. A day of being kind to ourselves was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Sunday. We started at the Sikh Temple. After eating lunch we were inspired to serve. We spent the next few hours washing all the pots & pans and sweeping the entire floor. A priest at the temple, in his broken English, shared with us how important service and meditation is. In the evening we checked out the Hare Krishna Temple after sitting in silence for an entire hour.

Monday. Maushmi and I checked out a park and a coffee shop. Who knows? Maybe a Walk for Hope or a Seva Cafe in Houston at some point? As we said goodbye, she handed me a card from some of the volunteers and a certificate that said that a little girl named ‘Priccila’ had received cleft palate surgery in our honor. It seems that our friendships not only enrich our own lives but continue to benefit others as well.

I’m not sure if all good things need to come to an end. I think that all good things continue forward and expand outward. Something deep within me changed this week. I told Maushmi that all I was bringing to Houston was emptiness, hoping to fill myself with goodness that I could share in California. Filled with your goodness, I am grateful for the way you have welcomed me. You all are now officially invited to Southern California to hang out with our family here.

All good things continue forward. Like water that drops to the earth, and returns upward again one day, I hope to return back to my home in Houston some day.

Sukh

Are you family?

Sent out on the Be the Cause newsletter:

It’s that time of the year when we start to get together with our families to give thanks.  There is a lot to be thankful for, undoubtedly, the larger question we face is who do we consider family?  I’m sitting in Seattle visiting my sister-in-law and my 2 ½ year old nephew, and yet I feel related even to the random stranger walking down the street.  Two friends came over today, as they were playing with my nephew one of them said that it felt as if we were all one family.  One family.  (Maybe that’s why I felt no inhibition when I called them five hours before I needed a ride from the airport J ) 

Many talk about charity beginning at home, and how we must take care of our family first, but every single person I meet feels like my family.  If we were to draw the circle of our family as wide as possible, then who would we be willing to neglect?  Is the 2 ½ year old living elsewhere worthy of anything less?  Is he any different?  

I’m fortunate, I have a lot of family.  …and it keeps growing.  One conversation with Nikkie in South Carolina and she immediately becomes my sister.  She’s planning a Food Drive in the Charleston Area.  Maushmi is planning many projects for the holidays in Houston.  Southern California volunteers are planning two projects on Thanksgiving Day. 

The Seva Café volunteers continue to change hearts every week.  This Saturday, another brother, Hip Hop artist Isaac “IZE” Barba will be dropping some music for everyone. 

In the last couple of weeks we revamped our on-line calendar of events and created a 8 minute video on the Walk for Hope.  Some wonder why we work so hard.  I do it for my family.   

Living as a reminder

My brother fell today.  He had been standing for far too long.  The earth crumbled beneath him, all we could do was watch.  He just slipped away.

Jim Sun, MBA Graduating Class of 2000. 
 
It reminds me that we are all vulnerable.  None of us can escape the thoughts that run through our minds.  Sometimes life gets the better of us, sometimes we can get up fighting again, but sometimes our thoughts don’t give us a way out.  Sometimes the battle of life is between us and our own minds.  Between giving in and letting go.
 
Today you have fallen, and yet something within me gives rise: a responsibility to love harder than I have ever loved before.  That seems to be the only way to accept what is happening. 
 
I watch drops of water fall from the sky knowing that one day they will return upward again.  The cycle of life and death continues.  Death gives birth to something new.  Now you are one with everything, a part of the very air I breath.  I feel closer to you than I have ever felt.  Now nothing seperates us. 
 
Hours later I find myself at a birthday party.  Birth and Death tied together in every moment.  The span of our entire lives is but a mere snapshot in time.  Death an inevitable part of life.
 
It becomes apparent.  Our degrees and our resumes cannot shelter us from what is most important in life.  In the short time that we are here, I just hope that we are moving in the right direction.  What’s important?  Right now its family, love and service.
 
Jim, I’m sorry.
 
Sukh

101

What people appreciate the most is the people.  That’s what we learn at the Walk for Hope each year.  Sure the quotes are great.  This year they were even hand made and literally took over three months to create.  The activity stations are great too, they give the walkers a chance to pause, interact and reflect.  But year after year, people always say that the best part of the walk is interacting with all the people that are there.  What a concept, just your mere presence becomes a gift at the walk for hope.  Just by choosing to walk, you are giving a gift to another walker.

The people that come to the Walk are pretty unique I would agree.  They participate in both the moments of silence and the warm-up exercises by the Laker Girls.  They wish to make the world a better place and they know that they can’t do that by judging others.  They give of their lives, of their resources, and of their hearts.

I learned this first hand.

15 minutes into the event, someone who had traveled from Northern California to be at this event walked up to me and handed me an envelope.  They said that some random person had asked them to deliver it to me and that they wished to remain anonymous.  I suspected a few of the usual suspects but this was no ordinary random act of kindness.  The envelope had a quote hand written on the outside: “Nature is full of genius, full of divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand” - Thoreau.  Through the thin envelope I could tell that it contained some money.  I opened the envelope and found $101.  I was shocked.  Someone had just handed me $101 and I had no idea who. 

All I could think about was how amazing the people at the Walk for Hope are.  Their mere presence was a gift to me, but now that gift also came with $101.  I wasn’t sure what I would do with the money, but I was already thinking of creative ways to give it away.

Lost in my thoughts I continued to mingle with the crowd.  15 minutes pass by and a random person approaches me.  They hand me an envelope.  Same story.  Someone had asked them to deliver the envelope to me and yet they refused to get any recognition.  There is another quote hand-written on the envelope: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and science.” -Albert Einstein.  I open the envelope and inside I find $101.

15 minutes later, someone approaches me, hands me an envelope and smiles.  “This is from a random stranger who wishes to remain anonymous”.  They place the envelope in my open hands and walk away.  All I can do is stare in their direction as they leave me speechless.  I don’t know who this delivery person is, or who they had just met, but the interaction that took place between these two strangers is changing my life.  Time becomes more visible.  A few minutes ago a transaction took place.  Two people met, some conversation took place, and a gift was exchanged.  In this present moment, one of the two strangers is handing me an envelope.  Somehow, without knowing, without choosing, my life is tied to the interaction of these two strangers.  “The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.” - Gandhi, it says on the envelope.  Inside is $101.

Noon rolls around and I now have seven envelopes in my pocket.  I’m scared.  I begin to fear every person who comes up to me to say hello.  I have the great fortune of being able to interact with many people on the day of the Walk, and now this role scares me.  I’ve got $707 dollars in my pocket and I know that each additional penny that I collect will force me to open my heart in ways it has not opened before. 

I sit down and this time it’s a nun.  She greets me with “Om Shanti”, which to me in that moment means: let there be love between us.  She hands me an envelope, walks away, and leaves me in tears.  The Walk for Hope is almost over, I have to make my way to the stage to make a few announcements yet all I can do is sit and cry.  Om Shanti.

I learned to accept.  I learned to bow.  I learned to touch the feet of every person who handed me an envelope.  I learned that there is love between us.  I learned to cry.  I learned that someone somewhere out there has faith in me.  I learned to have faith in myself. 

With ten profound gestures of kindness, I ended up with ten envelopes, ten quotes and $1010 in my pocket.  (Revised: Actually I ended up with 11 envelopes, 11 quotes, 11 profound gestures, and a total of $1111… all one(s) ).

11 random strangers learned the joy of giving.  They became tied to my life.  Dear friend, whoever you may be, thank you for the envelopes, the love you left inside, the quotes, and for the 11 random people you brought into my life. Read more…

Movement - Walk for Hope 2006

Movement.  It is the process in which we transition from one place to another.  It symbolizes change.

Every single person on this planet is engaged in some form of movement.  Some people move their lives in a direction towards fear, greed, or suffering.  That movement then becomes visible in the form of wars, corporate scandals, and outright unhappiness.

Our lives are temporary here.  We are like wind, arising only to pass away.  The only question that matters is which direction are our lives moving in? Are we moving towards love?

Love is not something that is taught to us.  We don’t learn it in our schools, at our jobs, at the shopping malls, or in our TV shows.  Love, which is indisputably the most important thing in life, is the one thing that we forget to cultivate in our daily routines.

We hope that the Walk for Hope serves as a reminder of the things that matter most in life; as a metaphor for the movement that we are all engaged in.

We cannot say that we know what Love is; we too have come here to learn.  We hope that we have not come here to get anything from you, but rather to offer you a piece of our own hearts… thereby teaching ourselves how to love.

By laying one foot on the ground the other follows.  Only by beginning can we move forward.

- Sukh

Seva on KUCI

I was asked to speak about the Walk for Hope on KUCI’s Peace by Peace radio show hosted by our good friend Sarah Pauly.  Sarah asked me what was up with Be the Cause and for the next 10 minutes I talked about the Seva Cafe.  I guess we’ll chat about the Walk for Hope on the next show
Here is a link to the interview.  (It will take a couple of minutes to download even with a high speed internet connection).
http://www.bethecause.org/about/files/Seva%20Cafe.mp3