​Times of crisis 21 - Simple kindness

Sometimes we can feel pretty helpless. One teaching that has really helped me at such times came from Ajahn Karuniko, my teacher many years ago. He said,

‘You don’t have to save the world to feel happy, just a simple act of kindness will do.’

I have found this to be so true. We can feel helpless to do anything against the corona virus but just simply sharing something we have with someone else can help us feel a lot better. Leaving a loaf of bread outside an elderly person’s door, ringing the bell and disappearing, perhaps. This can be enough. The anonymity of such an offering can be so delicious too. We are not bothering the person, there are no strings and we are not looking for anything in return.

The further significance of such an act is that is takes us beyond the survival instincts that can kick in very strongly at times of crisis. And there can be so much suffering in these feelings. Again we can think we can have to make some huge selfless gesture to overcome such strong drives but actually just sharing one small thing can be enough. In Thailand poor people offer a little ball of sticky rice every day to the monastery, for the monks and nuns and anyone else who is hungry, to keep such wolves at bay.

I offer this for your reflection

Ajahn Kalyāno
http://www.openthesky.co.uk



​