Kindness and Gratitude

Ever since this platform started accepting posts from members, I had been thinking of writing one, but somehow could not manage to find anything compelling enough to write on. But last night, while reading a book, ’50 Toughest Questions of Life’ by Deepak Ramola, I came across some beautiful words which not only made me think but also motivated me to write this post.

This book is a collection of 50 questions that made him (the author) pause, the also has a bouquet of answers, anecdotes, stories and notes from his journey of teaching human wisdom for a decade.

I must thank my wife, Soanali, for literally forcing me to read this book. If it was not for her persuasion to read the book, this post would not have been possible.

Now coming back to the lines that prompted me to pause and think. In the chapter dealing with question number 21: How Can You Help Make the World a Better Place’, he writes, “When you avoid an act of kindness, you not only deprive yourself of an opportunity to serve humanity, but also steal from another human being the feeling of gratitude, which will not only comfort hi /her but also have the power to touch your spirit.”

Reading these words gave a completely new dimension, at least for me, to the practice of RAK (random acts of kindness). It has taken into its fold both the benefactor and the beneficiary. By serving humanity, we are not only accumulating good karma for ourselves but also providing the other person to add to his/her own good karma by being grateful.

Until now, I had seen only from the point of view of the person doing RAK. But the very fact that besides generating good karma for oneself, one is also giving opportunity to the other person to generate good karma is a huge thing, IMHO. I have always believed that in every sphere of our lives, creating conducive atmosphere or situation for something to happen is equally important.

These words also illustrate how different virtues are interlinked. How practicing one virtue invokes the other. Kindness on one’s part and gratitude on other’s part. When practiced mindfully the overall impact is humongous.