Gerald D'Cunha

“We all see only that which we are trained to see.” Robert Wanton Wilson   S ome years ago, our Centre - The Dawn Club Centre of Excellence - published a book by the title- ‘I AM GOOD, THE WORLD IS GOOD’. We had invited many little ones, young ones and adults to get in touch with their prejudices – which blocked them from viewing people from ‘other communities’ as ‘our own’… The book was highly appreciated… How I view my outside world depends on how I view my inside world. If my heart is clean, mind is clear and – if I nourish my ability to see right as right and wrong as wrong – then, I can   be an instrument of peace and harmony… Imagine, from cradle to grave, we live wearing clean filters – unbiased, caring and compassionate… Imagine, the world that gets shaped through such an outlook! All conflicts first arise within us… They get brewed inside our respective echo champers… The echo chambers, like I am White, I am Black, I am Indian, I am Pakistani, I am Chris...

“It’s not at all hard to understand a person; It’s only hard to listen without bias.” Criss Jami I t was late in the night when I happened to read the heated debate on one of the WhatsApp groups. It’s a group of fifteen of us… all friends and all educated. Apparently, one of the group members had showered praises on our Prime Minister and hailed him as the only leader who could deal with the current situation in the country so efficiently.  Immediately, another member mocked at what was being just said and criticized the PM and the central government for, what he called ‘a complete mess’ in the country. Suddenly, the floodgates were thrown open… missiles being fired from either side of the border. I was surprised to see one of our very quiet members, who seldom opened his mouth, firing his missiles from one of the sides… I stood neutral, a mute spectator, rather… and watched the fun! Of course, I had a very strong view about the current state of af...

“Find the sweetness in your own heart, then you may find the sweetness in every heart.”  - Rumi O ur enemy is the creation of our own insecure mind. We perceive someone as our ‘enemy’… because, we are not confident of ourselves… We are insecure. Moreover, an enemy takes birth in our mind, when we fail to see our own goodness and the goodness of another soul – including our so-called ‘enemy’. Deep hatred towards another person, therefore, is nothing but a deep hatred towards our own selves. Yes, ironical – and unbelievable – it may sound! Learning to love ourselves - by recognizing and accepting all our human flaws – is the most crucial step towards learning to love others. We all are ‘flawed’ people on this planet… The flaws that we see in others are the flaws that we have to see in ourselves. Kabir described it beautifully: “The river that flows in you flows in me, too.” How true! Humanity is this river… The only reli...

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” - Helen Keller L et me clarify my position right at the start, here: I am not writing this Post as a supporter of Congress Party or its President, Mr. Rahul Gandhi. As I have told many times before, I keep party politics and hardcore religion at bay. Particularly, if my writing is going to poison the minds around me… If it is going to divide and polarize. I have been observing Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s political growth just as any of you would – reading about him, watching videos of his speeches and interviews, listening to people debate about him And, what had shocked me, always, was how systematically and relentlessly he was made to look like a joker, an idiot… a ‘Pappu’… and so on. What is even more shocking was this: most of my friends around me would think and believe so… would ...

“There are two types of seeds in the mind: those that create anger, fear, frustration, jealousy, hatred and those that create love, compassion, equanimity and joy. Spirituality is germination and sprouting of the second group and transforming the first group.” ―  Amit Ray A ll angry people do not hate or seek revenge. Hatred and revenge come from extreme insecurity and fear. On this planet, I think, almost all of us experience and express anger in some degree or the other. But, hatred and revenge – yes, only a small segment of mankind has them. That is a good news! I look to my immediately surroundings… Look at the messages we receive on social media or the news reports… The stories of hate and revenge are there, but not many compared to stories of love, compassion and goodness. Why look outside… a look inside me reveals that I have ample of anger… But, traces of hatred and revenge are almost not there. My anger ha...

“I am the first victim of my anger… I am the first victim of my hatred.” -           S.N. Goenka I have sent scores of New-year messages… and I have received hundreds of them: “Wish you a Happy, Peaceful, Prosperous and Blessed New-year.” Deep down in my heart, I am aware, that those are just words… hollow, meaningless words. All of us are ‘pleasers’ and we do what we do just mechanically… just to be ‘like everyone else’… And, there we are, here in the New Year, now! Have things changed for us? How can they? How can outside things change unless things inside us do?  As the Zen saying goes, “Wherever we go, we carry ourselves!” If we have carried all the poison – our anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, guilt, worry, arrogance and the rest of mind’s illnesses -  from 2017 into this newly-born 2018, we can’t expect to be any better… Happiness, Peace, Prosperity a...

“Y ou are only disturbed, not destroyed.” This is how I try to shake off my pain, fear and anxiety regularly… For, pain, fear and anxiety keep returning to my heart very regularly… When you just seem to have recovered from one jolt, lo… there comes another… The saga continues… I have stopped praying to God to give me a life free from pain, fear and anxiety… I only pray for the wisdom, grace and strength to deal with them… Therefore, wishing for a life free from pain, fear and anxiety is akin to a death-wish… Meaning wishing to die! That’s why the Wise say, that the only place you find people free from pain-fear-anxiety is GRAVE! S unita, a friend of mine, is a gifted poet. A few minutes ago, I happened to read a touching poem she had shared on FB. It started with these simple lines… They lie They say that time heals all wounds Well they lie! One can get the essence of the entire poem just by reading these three simple lines…  I wrote...