Couple of days back I had this dream where I saw that I meet God and he asks me “What is the one thing you would like to ask for”. I knew in my dream that it surely wasn’t a million dollar as I have always heard in stories. I told God in my dream that I need some time to think about it. All I remember after that is that I woke up and I don’t know what I asked for if  at all I asked for However this serious question bothered me the whole day “Jokes apart, what would I ask for if I am given one wish”.
After a lot of thinking I knew what would that thing be. Are you curious to know? Think about yours before you read about mine

Here were couple of options all of us might think -  Loads of Money, fame, career, getting married, getting the love of your life,   good life partner,  having children, big house, car, luxuries, food to eat, successful business , admission in a good school/college,  good education for  your kids , good children, good parents, nice boss,  good job, pain free life,  debt free life, obstacle free life, happiness for your children, freedom from a disease like cancer, disease free life, poverty free life,  healthy body, comfortable old age, wish to ask for wish again etc
.

I thought that none of the above will ever give me happiness and satisfaction for long. I wanted to ask God for one thing and i.e “Fill me with Love and wisdom”. Sounds so philosophical. Right? But do think about it.

I  have experienced  those magical moments 2-3 times in my life where everything was so beautiful . Nothing had changed around me in those moments. My problems were same as before but the only difference  was that my heart was filled with love. One of those moments was my last day at “10  days Vipassana meditation“. I felt that it would be foolish to ask God for other stuff as that wont last long.  Whenever we are in a difficult situation, we  pray for situation to change but it might not be right to ask God to change the situation we are in because that might be the best situation for our growth.

“Some flowers grow best in the Sun while others do well in Shade.Remember, we are put where we grow the best and accordingly we get people and situations to grow with”.

If we have love and wisdom, we wont resist any situation instead see the blessing in it and with our wisdom do the right thing in that situation whether its loss of job, deal, house or a loved one.

When our heart is filled with love, nothing seems like a problem. Things are just happening and  with our wisdom, we just know how to  react to it. When our heart is filled with love, we can see  God’s love in every small thing on this earth. It is love and wisdom that  empowered simple people to do really big things whether it was Mother Teressa or Mahatma Gandhi.

“Problems have nothing to do with situations, but with one’s reaction to them.What’s happening is merely what’s happening. How you feel about it is another matter.”

It also made me realize why “Gayatri Mantra” is considered the most powerful mantra in Hindu philosophy. This Mantra doesn’t ask for any material riches, freedom from pain or poverty but ONLY ONE THING and i.e wisdom. This is my favorite mantra and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND  chanting/listening to it couple of times every day. I can tell you from experience, its indeed very powerful and magical. However when you do it, do it with faith and contemplate on its meaning.

I am eagerly waiting for God to come in my dream again and I wont take long this time Please don’t complaint that instead of one thing I asked for two things “Love and wisdom”. I guess God will be this much liberal with me.

As I mentioned in my last post – my sister-in-law Sarah was diagnosed with adrenal cancer in April 2010. Each successive scan showed the cancer was spreading and tumors were getting bigger.  For the first time since we started doing scans after her surgery, we got a promising scan in May 2011 that showed some stabilization in her tumors. This was the only good news we had received in over a year.

Then, however, her condition  kept on getting worse. At this point nothing seemed to be working, and the chemo therapy started to take toll on her body.  And her latest scan results again showed continued growth with wide spread tumors, failure of basic bodily functions and frequent overnight trips to the hospital.

By October  2011 the few doctors that had not given up hope also gave up and the doctors at UNC and Duke sent her home to hospice care. At this point we stopped all 28 of her medicines other than the pain killers.  Later that week, she realized that she could not walk or move around on her own. This for family and friends was the beginning of the end of hope!

Even with words of sympathy from family at this point Sumit and Sarah had not given up hope. They have accepted that God might take her but believe with all their heart that miracles do happen!! They both are at peace with whatever will happen. Meanwhile as a long shot, we had been in Continue reading →

I can’t believe that I am writing after a year now. Procrastination has become my second nature . Also it  was  busy and lot of things happened in last one year. My brother-in-law’s wife, Sarah who is 30 years old got diagnosed with Adrenal cancer (stage IV) last year. Life changed for all of us in one year. Most of the things changed for good. I read so many books on cancer, healthy diet, mind, body and lifestyle. It felt like there is a different world out there. It has been a good learning experience. I would love to share with you all what all I learned in  this past one year. A lot of my following blog posts might be on the same topic.

Its been amazing to see  Sumit and Sarah’s attitude in life. I have heard of many such people in books and movies but have NEVER seen such positive people in my life. It has been no less than a roller coaster ride for both of them. Sarah had five scans after her first surgery (where her tumor was completely removed) . Every time we hoped that tumor would have shrunk but each scan showed a huge growth in her tumor. Despite of all this, I NEVER saw Sumit losing hope. He used to be the one giving hope to others. Till this day, they both are like – FIGHT ON !

The other day I was reading this book on cancer with an article “Being passive vs being peaceful”. It says God wants Continue reading →

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

“One is evil, which is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

“The other is good, which is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, Continue reading →