Supernatural Joy, the Joy of Giving

Author: Radhanath Swami

An excerpt from my book 'The Journey Home' - Autobiography of an American Swami http://www.thejourneyhomebook.com For reviews on this book, visit http://www.radhanath.com

One day, as I walked along a jungle pathway headed north, I came to the Laxman Jhulan, a long suspension bridge that crosses high over the river Ganges. Standing in the gently swaying middle, I beheld the Ganges descending from the Himalayas, ornamented on either side by temple, ashrams, and rishis performing their rituals. I crossed the bridge and walked along a dirt pathway and into the forest. Suddenly I froze, unable to bear the chilling sight before me.

Dying people, some naked, others in filthy rags, were wailing in agony, their faces shriveled and deformed, their noses melted away, their hands and feet mangled with bloody stubs instead of fingers or toes. Emaciated from starvation, people lay in holes in the ground that served as beds and buried their bodies with blankets of dirt against the cold. All of them were pleading to me through desperate eyes. I was horrified. I had stumbled into a leper colony.

Dozens of lepers surrounded me, crying out, "Baksheesh! Baksheesh! Baksheesh!" Pressing their bodies against mine, they stuck their mangled, bloody hands into my face and demanded charity. But I had nothing to give and, imprisoned by a wall of putrefied flesh, couldn't move a single step. They refused to leave me be. "Baksheesh! Baksheesh! Baksheesh!" The mob shoved so tightly around me that I was being smothered; I could not escape the stench of their breath and oozing, rotting flesh. "Baksheesh," they screamed. My mind reeled in confusion, struck by ambivalence. On the one hand, I was outraged to be so accosted. On the other hand, I pitied them, granting that their misery justified their behavior.

An endless twenty minutes passed. Agonizing, I tried to come to grips with what was happening. Leprosy is contagious, I thought. Will I be afflicted to suffer and die with them? Will this mob ever release me?

Screaming "Baksheesh," the lepers tugged and shoved one another in a desperate skirmish. Their seared mine with stares of anguish. Finally, they patted me down for valuables. What I didn't give, they were determined to take by force. When they realized that I didn't have anything, they dispersed.

Taking a deep breath, I took a few steps, but was stopped in my tracks. I saw an old woman in rags, her nose melted into the decaying flesh of her deformed face, lying on the ground in misery. Our eyes locked. In her teary eyes I felt the tender love of a mother, an affection real and rare. She wanted nothing from me but to open my heart to receive the love she so longed to give someone. She was beautiful. Folding her fingerless hand in a gesture of respect, she then extended her disease smitten hand to bless me. All my fear of contamination was slain by her affection. I rushed to her side and placed my head under her palm to receive her blessing. "May God bless you, my child," she prayed. "May God bless you".  I looked up and saw that her face was lit with a supernatural joy, the joy of giving. I wept, feeling the whole ordeal to be a small price for this unforgettable blessing.

 

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About the Author

Radhanath Swami is a spiritual leader, author, and public speaker. A practitioner of bhakti-yoga for almost 40 years, he helps individuals find greater inner fulfillment through devotional service.http://radhanathswami.com/

Radhanath Swami has established his spiritual headquarters at Radha Gopinath Ashram in Chowpatty, Mumbai. For the past twenty years he has guided the community development and has initiated a number of acclaimed social action programs including Midday Meal, which feeds more than 260,000 plates of nutritious vegetarian food to indigent children daily; missionary hospitals and eye camps; eco-friendly farms, schools and ashrams; and a number of emergency relief programs throughout India.http://radhagopinath.com/

"He sees life as a continuous blessing of God's grace," one follower says, "and yet he never loses his humanness" His accessibility leaves people feeling that, with a little sincere effort, they too will find the path to inner peace and God realization.http://www.itsohappened.com/