Excerpt from Chapter 8: Changing The World (page 142.)
We all dream of a better life in a better society. However, it has become difficult to go through a complete day without becoming disillusioned, disappointed, and drained by the mean-spirited and selfish people who surround us. So many people seem to be interested only in their personal gain. They have become rude and arrogant, critical and insensitive. Not only do their actions drag us down, but most of us feel that there’s nothing we can do to change this, that only those in power have the capacity to make a difference.
If we accept our task to be the enlightened beings of our planet, we can begin to change the world.
Realistically, I think the changes will occur slowly as we begin to practice acts of kindness every day, doing little things to help make other people happier. Perhaps the answer is volunteering to help the less fortunate. Perhaps it’s something as simple as being nice to someone, doing a kindness without asking for or expecting anything in return.
For years, television host and actress Oprah Winfrey has been advocating the practice of doing simple acts of kindness every day. These acts do not have to be expensive or complex. They can be nothing more than a pleasant smile, a spontaneous compliment, an assist to someone needing help.
They can be a kind word, a sweet gesture, a caring action, a compassionate attitude, a shared joy, a helping hand. Little by little, step by step, a huge transformation of our society could begin. People would feel nourished by the kind gestures of others. Fearful attitudes and defensive insecurities would begin to melt away in the warmth of kindness.
Strangers must approach other strangers with these benevolent actions. Kindness and caring cannot be reserved only for our families and friends. Otherwise society will not change at all. We need to reach out to all the others, not merely those like us.
If we could get everyone to perform just a few acts of kindness each day, we could change the world. At least a good beginning could be made.
Our days would seem sweeter, less discouraging, and we would harbor more hope for the future. The model of kind and compassionate behaviour toward our fellow human beings should be America’s export and legacy, not greed-based business practices with money as the bottom line and ruthless, uncaring competition as the means to that end.
In addition, we would be role models for our children. They would learn the power and importance of being kind. They would learn that the actual number of people reached by their simple acts of kindness does not matter. The importance is in the doing.
Since the beginning of time, all the great teachers of humanity have preached love and compassion in our relationships and in our communities. They have not wasted their time instructing us how to accumulate excessive material wealth; they have not taught us to be mean, self-centered, rude or arrogant.
A real master, a real teacher, a real guru will help you find your own path, showing you what is important for your spiritual evolution and what is not important or, even worse, what may be a hindrance or an obstacle.
Our job is to manifest their teachings in our everyday life. To be kind and nurturing to practice loving acts.
There is no time schedule for changing the world. The important thing is to begin. If it is true that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, then the first step is to let go of our fear and isolation and to begin to practice acts of kindness, whether random or planned, whether big or small, and to do this every day.
Changing the world from its current violent, competitive, and hate filled nature will not happen through the efforts of only a few enlightened individuals, even if they are powerful world leaders. Rather, the day to day acts of kindness and compassion shared between people and within small groups can bring about the change to a more loving and kinder place.
People have to understand that we are all equal, all the same, all striving for a little peacefulness, happiness and security in our everyday lives. We can’t keep fighting and killing each other.
Our children watch us closely. They model themselves on what they observe: our behaviour, our values, and our attitudes. If we are hateful and violent, they will become the same. One of our most important tasks is to teach our children right values and right behaviour beginning when they are infants, because babies, too, are observing us closely and they understand far more than we think.
I remember reading years ago about the Hopis, a Native American nation. In their educational system, if a student did not know the answer to a question asked of him or her in the classroom, no other student would raise a hand to answer that question.
It was considered rude and uncivilized to embarrass or humiliate the first student. It was not important to impress the teacher with one’s own brilliance, and it was thought to be barbaric to advance oneself at the expense of one’s peers…..
…..Our "civilized" culture is failing us. And to change things, we have to start with our children, showing them the importance of love and kindness, of faith and hope, of compassion and non-violence, treating each other with respect and dignity, not as bodies to be climbed over on the road to material success.
Gurus and presidents cannot do this for us. The responsibility lies with each of us, in our daily one to one encounters, to reach out and help each other, with acts of kindness, to not be concerned with what, if anything, comes back to us, to do this unselfishly.
In this way we can change the world.
If you do not have the opportunity to do great things, you can do small things in a great way.