Sunday, October 17th, 2010

The Mantra Really Helped

Toronto, Ontario

I spoke to a friend on the phone which bore good news, He had been wrongly accused of sexual misconduct with one of his students, a child. He was without a job for 2.5 months from his teaching after the allegation was made. Come this last September he was reinstated. This was the happy news.

I asked him how he felt during the time of suspended work and in answer he expressed a few things. First of all he offered his thanks for my prayers while he went through the difficulty and secondly he said that since being accused by a fellow teacher he sees the world differently. While speaking I felt his pain.

There is nothing more grave a crime than when an adult abuses a child or a minor. Pedophiles and the like are a sticky lot. One’s heart must go out to the innocent victim. Perhaps equally as painful is what an adult goes through when wrongfully charged with such allegations. It meant for my friend a loss of trust in people, loss of sleep, affecting his health. If he didn’t have his good wife as support he might not have weathered the storm. My friend expressed that the incident did cause him to increase his mantra meditation. To some degree he went more inward. That was a consolation. That really helped him.

We all know of the many reports of child abuse that goes on, on a daily basis. We may hear less of false charges laid on adults accused of such offenses. “One thing is for sure”, I thought while on my daily walk passing by some kids enjoying at the playground, “suffering is a large component of this world which we often impose on each other. It is shared with pleasure.”

When pain comes do we know how to contend with it? I’m so glad that my buddy of thirty years or more was able to take shelter of the Hare Krishna mantra. I guess what really made the difference was the backing of family, friends, and the mantra.

5KM