Post Aloka Novitiate 2008, Bodhgaya
by Darshani
During the Novitiate programme, Bhante Mahinda talked about gratitude. Gratitude to everyone who has been a part of our life journey from our parents to teachers, to persons who prepared the food for our daily consumption to the taxi driver to got us to our appointment on time. For the Novitiate programme, we expressed our gratitude to our parents, friends, organizer, helpers, the hotel and monastery that housed us, th
e driver and even to our bosses who approved our vacation leave to enable us to attend the programme and our colleagues who need to cover for us during our absence.
On my return from the programme, it got me thinking about my attitude towards the road sweeper. Every morning, she will be on either side of the road, sweeping the road diligently. I would get irritated should she be on my side of the road as I will then need to give her space for her trash bin and space to avoid my car being hit by her broom with her sweeping motion. One morning, due to traffic jam, my car stopped within 5 feet behind her trash bin. When she looked up, I gave her a smile, a nod and mouthed ‘Thank You’ to her. She was stunned for a moment and when she recovered, she gave me a wide happy smile. As she continued to sweep the road ahead, she kept turning back and grinning happily back at me.
It was a joyous experience – just a smile in gratitude can make another’s day!
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