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Toronto, Ontario
I learned a small lesson about accommodating people. A family came up from Florida to partake in devotional events for the weekend. They wanted to spend some time with me and suggested to go for a walk. Fine! I’m happy to do that as you all know.
We took to trekking a ravine, which means going downward before you go up. Now, if you know anything about the topography of Florida, we’re looking at a territory that is basically as flat as a pancake or a dosha.
Our visitors were enjoying the fast pace downward. Hardly was it steep to an experienced walker like myself. The query was whether they had to mountain-climb their way up or not.
“No, it’s a gradual walk up,” I reassured. I realized that even my pacing was somewhat overbearing for the family. No one was panting but clearly they were not used to the robust pace. I slowed down to accommodate my pedestrian companions. I shifted gears and brought it to a stroll. Smiles manifested. We came to common ground. It was good.
An interesting thing then happened on the way in the evening when exiting the city on wheels. I left at rush hour in the bus with our group of monks from Nova Scotia. The traffic was crawling and we had to submit to the crawl. We could have been rude and nosed our bus into lanes and perhaps speed our way along the road’s shoulder. That would have triggered some four letter words (not necessarily RAMA!)
I realized that in some way karma needs to be shared. Kindness, consideration and thoughtfulness must prevail in all circumstances. If certain actions make people smile or at least relax then the One who already smiles will likely stretch His mouth.
7 KM
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