300

I wrote poem some time ago and its title was "three hundred" :

We all
were born with
three hundred talents
three hundred gifts
three hundred strengths
but only
ninety nine weaknesses 

Today, I experienced a day, a bit like this. 

I woke up with quite some energy, 

said my prayers, together with my son,

then to work, everything seemed to go well.

Managed to give quite some useful service, I think.

Then at home my weakness propped up.

A quarrel. 

The problem is that very often we tend to spend so much time reminiscing on our own weaknesses and problems and not on our strengths and blessings. 

Love

"To be loving is not something that is taught;
to be compassionate is not an idea;
to be in empathy is not an esoteric principle;
this is the way a human being is made,
if only he does not constipate his consciousness
with limiting identifications, with things that he is not"
Sadguru

Love, compassion and empathy are not something 
that we have to acquire, not something that we have to work towards,
it is our very nature! 

When I heard Sadguru say this in a video of one of his TED talks,
I remember thinking this myself several years ago in almost exactly the same words.
I had written a small poem about it myself, more than two years ago.

Please click on this link to read the poem.
The video of the TED talk is here

All blade

"A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it"
Rabindranath Tagore

Wow, I got a true wow-experience upon reading this quote of a very wise man.
So true, we cannot underestimate the importance of our heart, our soul.
Surely the rational and logic mind is of extreme value to each of us
but without emotion, silence, peace, love, what would it still be worth?

The proverbial butterfly

Too often we search for pleasure,
we search for sensual gratification.
We do have fun but our basic state of mind
is not one of peace.

Peace of mind is the greatest good.
We will not find it through searching.
It is something we cannot chase
It is something that comes or does not come.

We can only create the conditions
that are most likely to allow
a big dose of peace of mind to come
We have to make it silent

Today, my friends, let us stop for awhile
Stop the search for pleasure, the search for fun
Make it silent within. Peace of mind will
as the proverbial butterfly land on your shoulder

Simple

The biggest pleasure
the simplest happiness
the most serene peace
lies in a simple kind act

Today I took a grab-car from my meeting to my hotel.
It was not very far but traffic was heavy.

The price of the ride was RM 6 (+- 1.5 €).

We had a small talk and his wife was expecting their first baby.

When we arrived I found only notes of RM 50 in my wallet 

and a bit impulsively, gave him a 50 note, letting him keep the change.

The smile on his face was good. Truly...

...The biggest pleasure
the simplest happiness
the most serene peace
lies in a simple kind act

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PS: this is not a boast, 

I just hope this posting is inspiring

many other simple kind acts.

Sharing virtue

What is well planted will not be uprooted.
What is held well, will not slip away. 
(Lao Tsu - 500BC) 

When we want to instill virtue within our children, what do we do?
Whether we want to teach our children honesty, or regular prayers
or any other virtue, what is our approach?

- make it sound like compulsory?
- let them know they will go to hell if they don't?
- promise them heaven if they do?

Preaching virtue followed by a threat or shaky promise, sounds a bit like slamming a young shoot or sapling on the ground and hope that it will grow into a wonderful tree blossoming flowers and producing fruits of virtue. Religious scholars who continuously talk about hell and heaven, have not learned the value of humility and most likely are ignorant about the true meaning of the Mercy of our Creator.

If we want any plant to grow and blossom,
we have to dig a bit, put some fertile soil into the hole
then plant the tree, and care for it with loving care

While virtue can hardly be preached,
we can BE virtuous together with our children
and then talk about how we feel about it.
We can choose to be honest and pay the adult ticket as soon as they turn 12, even they still look much younger. We can choose to stop in our steps and help the elderly woman across the road. We can choose to visit that old auntie or that lonely neighbor. We can choose to pray together in the most meaningful way. And not only do these things together but then discuss together the feelings that these things generate. If we have messed things up and did lose our temper, we can share how bad it felt to ourselves. If our children lose their temper, we can ask them later how it felt afterwards and discuss how we/they could have reacted alternatively.

Virtue is something we need to plant wisely.
Things that are planted well, are not uprooted.

Within our world we have given too much power to power-sick people
be it politicians, be it religious leaders, be it bosses of companies.
Within our world, we have given up too much of our self respect,
too much of our own wisdom, while listening to often-disturbed leaders.

Practicing virtue with our children and feeling the peace of mind together
                                                        or
forcing virtue down their throats by threats of hell or promises of heaven
Let us choose all together the very best way of planting virtue wisely

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Quote "Virtue only remains if it's reached by personal conviction. If it's demanded of us, we have no way of knowing if it's true, and then surely it will not be lasting" - Stefan Stenudd

Soul

At ten thirty pm, I was sitting on the beach.
It was dark, no moon, but stars were shining.
I listened to the sound of the waves,
I looked at the waves in scanty light,
I could hear the peace in the air,
I could see the peace in the sea,
I could feel it in my heart and
my soul, the most peaceful part of me
came right to the surface of my being.

It remained there for a long time,
before slowly withdrawing
to its own deep depths.

Oh, my God,
let my soul come back to the surface
and let it be there for ever.

bit by bit

Today, I had a small discussion with my students.
They are wonderful people, so motivated to become good docs.

One of them shared a story of trying to convince a father to be more compliant with the therapy that was necessary for his son. Somehow he had succeeded at least partially but then he expressed his frustration about how much effort it took and how partially his success was in convincing the father. 

I think I have been there, I think most of us have been there. It is not easy, is it? So often we try the very best, not for us, but for someone else and then that someone else is just ignoring us or not appreciating at all what we did. 

I encouraged the student to persist. Even for this father who is still not fully compliant with the doctor's prescription for his son, the student had meant a whole lot. He has shown his care, he has shared his knowledge. The father did still not fully grasp the importance of the student's message, but I am sure in his heart he will surely value the efforts of the student so much. We need more true doctors like this. Each caring act from a true doc, will discourage people to seek help from quackers and cheaters practicing the so called alternative medicine. 

Let us contribute a small little bit to a better world every day, just like my student did. Let us not be too focused on the outcome, because deep in our heart we know that the long term will be excellent. Each of the small acts of kindness and caring, will accumulate and the giant heap of goodness will be soon be covering the world.

Overflow

There is a river of love
flowing through my heart,
that wants to overflow.

A river without banks
is flowing through my veins
It wants to overflow

It wants to overflow
the walls around my nation
the fences around my race

It wants to overflow
religious borders
and cultural boundaries

It wants to overflow
age and generations
space and time

A river without banks
filled with love and kindness
is flowing through your heart

Let it overflow

Instantaneously

IF
you and I and he and she
would stop a while today
to think about the words,
the most beautiful words
our son, our mom, our friend,
would like to hear from us,
and
IF
you and I and he and she
would act on the above,
not later, not soon,
but right now,

Can you imagine what a different world
it would be instantaneously...

Just
IF...


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Great future docs

Today, I had a session with students who are my personal mentees.

When we addressed their progress in development of professional values, I heard some truly wonderful stories.

These students, early in their clinical years, seem to have developed such a good listening skills, that it really warmed my heart. Just through active listening, the students had managed to extract information from the parents, that, I was sure, was very difficult to get. After being listened to actively, one of the parents had really softened his stance on a wrong belief he had held on to

for a long time.

While so often we tend, as we grow older be dissatisfied with the performance of our juniors, if we actively encourage and look for their empathy and compassion, we become aware, that we do have great future docs among our students.