Why Do Good People Suffer?

Before you continue reading the rest of this article, I would like to invite you to ask yourself this question “why do good people suffer?” and then pause for a moment. Allow the answer to emerge from within you. The answer you get is what you believe. 

When I was around the age of 13, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes with a dangerously high sugar level of 700+. I remember that after my soccer practice, my Dad came into the classroom to ask the teacher for a leave, as I needed to be hospitalized for a few days. At the time, I had no idea about the intensity of my “sickness”, and I was just happy that I would get a holiday from school for a few days.

The first two days in the hospital weren’t too bad; just a few pricks of the needle didn’t bother me. Although, I did enjoy all the attention I was getting as my friends came to visit and brought me flowers. Of course, in addition to their flowers each friend and family brought me a piece of their advice, and said they would not offer me chocolates again. 

However, one guest decided to bring me a book called “Why do good people suffer?” Up to that point, I had no idea that I was suffering, or was going to suffer in anyway. But, since I was only 13 years old and was enjoying my time away from school, I really did not pay much attention to that book. In fact, even today, decades later I never read it. Why didn’t I read it? Because I did not need to, since my friends, family, society, and religion all gave me the same answer. Karma. 

Today, I want to shed some light on this question “why do good people suffer”, not based on any religious views or other peoples opinions, but based on my introspection, or inner reflection. 

I was raised with the belief that either we enjoy or suffer based on our karmic deeds. It’s that simple, do good, and good will return to you. But what happens when you have no idea why you were born with a disability, or you become sick for no reason? The answer your religion will give you might be something like “it’s residue from the past life”. Can that be proven or is it just an answer to satisfy oneself?

The truth is that very few people have experienced their past lives in states of meditation or dreams, so for a majority of the people, they have accepted a reason for this suffering which they cannot prove. 

Another perspective of Karma is that it’s not designed to punish the soul based on its negative actions. It simply teaches the soul that some actions can cause pain and suffering; and in the future, the soul should choose to act positively. Through the lessons taught by negative karma, one can gain wisdom, and cultivate love, compassion, and a sense of unity.

Again, this is also just a perspective, which cannot be proven until one goes into deep meditation. Therefore, if you have decided to accept a philosophy of karma, I would like to invite you to adopt a different philosophy, at least one that serves you. 

The reason I’m inviting you to change your belief about why people suffer is because if you believe that you are suffering due to negative karma, you will experience a victim mindset. You will blame karma for the situations of life, and will take very little action. In addition, you may harbor negative thoughts about yourself and life in general. 

So, when you experience an unfavorable situation, instead of asking the question “why did this happen to me?” which often the answer will almost always be “karma”, ask yourself these questions:

- What can I learn from this situation?
- What is trying to emerge from me?
- Who can I become based on what I learn from this situation? 

And the most powerful questions that I ask myself are:

- How can I turn these wounds into wisdom?
- What suppressed emotions are surfacing? 

If you ask yourself the above questions, you will rise above the victim mindset, and you will seek to find the blessing in your pain. Remember, fate is what happens to you, but your destiny is what you make of it. 

Today, at the age of 36, my body is still diabetic and my vision is low. But, I have never been happier, simply because I changed my beliefs and started asking the question “Why Not Me?” instead of “Why Me?”

As I conclude, I would like to share a quick example of this belief. Most people would consider my situation (low-vision) as a tragedy. But, after I surrendered to the Universe, I realized that it is more of a gift. I have gained such profound experiences in the past 6 years, that if I had a choice I would maintain the low-vision, simply for my consciousness to keep expanding, as well as actually feeling and “recognizing” the grace in my life. Whenever I do feel low or helpless, I ask myself, is it better to walk alone in the light, or walk with the Divine in the dark?

Ultimately, how you feel and the rate at which you heal depends on what you believe is the reason for your challenge. From now onwards, I invite you to search for the blessing and wisdom that the challenge has brought into your life.

Be Super Positive Workshop

A Big Thank You to everyone who attended my “Be Super Positive” workshop yesterday. Also, it was wonderful to receive the shiny Best Speaker award!

-- About the workshop - Be Super Positive by managing your thoughts, emotions, and energy.

-- In this workshop you will learn:
• The benefits of being Super Positive
• Three energies that determine your positivity
• Four types of thoughts and how to manage them
• The effects of seven major emotions
• Technique to instantly clear unhealthy emotions
• Technique to enhance positive emotions
• Tips to avoid negativity within and around you
• The power of purpose
• …and much more. 

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- About the Workshop Coach
Dino Daswani (Mind Transformation Coach) 

As a Certified Master Life & Business Success Coach, Dino has realized that empowering others gives him true joy. Dino has a Master’s degree in Leading Innovation & Change from York St. John Univ. (UK), and incorporates Pranic Healing & Hypnotic NLP in his coaching practice. In addition he also shares his wisdom through his website as well as articles published in magazines.

Dino’s personal transformation occurred when he suddenly lost partial vision and was forced to face the uncertainties in life, and discover his purpose. Today, through his transformation, 

Dino feels tremendous joy and empowerment by coaching and inspiring others.

You can learn more about Dino on his website Blissperience – Experience Bliss (www.blissperience.com)

-- Would you like to attend Dino’s upcoming workshops and webinars? – Ask for details. 

Is Meditation Right for You?

In this video, Dino talks about Meditation. 

Three reasons why people don't meditate.

Is it right for you? Enjoy the video below. 

Is True Happiness Within You

Ask yourself a simple question before every action – “Why am I doing this?”

You will realize that the purpose of every action is to become happy, either today or in the future. This is the root cause of every action, regardless of whether the action is moral or not.

However, have you realized that many of your actions backfire? Instead of bringing you happiness it brings you sorrow? Think about this for a moment, we become excited to start a new job, and over the months we discover that our boss is a control freak, so we feel sorrow. We get married to be happy, and realize that we cannot change our husband or wife, and we feel sorrow. We buy a new car to feel happy, and then realize that our neighbor has bought a better car, and we feel sorrow. Our lives have become a roller coaster ride of peaks and valleys – feelings of joy and sorrow.

Many years ago, I was in this situation. My feelings of happiness were dependent on how life responded to my desires. If life was happening according to my wishes, I was happy, otherwise I wasn’t. It was that simple.

In 2009 when I realized that I would have to live the rest of my life with low-vision, this so called roller coaster of emotions came to a complete stop at the bottom – which was suicidal depression.  Basically, I considered suicide because I was moving away from my pain towards happiness and freedom, which would come after death. However, there was still a part of me that wanted to live, heal, and be able to enjoy life in spite of my low-vision condition.  

As I reflected on my life’s situation, I remembered the popular phrase of many wise saints - “true happiness is within you”. Haven’t you heard this before? But, they never tell us exactly where it is; they just say, “It’s within you”.

If true happiness is within us why it is so difficult to find it? Shouldn’t it be much easier to find a treasure within you, instead of having to search the entire planet?

So, I embarked on a journey to find the truth behind this statement. I began this inward journey to find true happiness.

I started to meditate and search inwards, and this is what I discovered within the darkness as I closed my eyes.

When we close our eyes, we see darkness, isn’t it? 
In the same way, for example, if you walk into a room and the lights are off, you will not see anything, because it is dark. 
But when you turn on the light, you will see there are objects, tables, chairs, and people. 
In the same way when we close our eyes, we see darkness, until we shine some light.

When we shine this light, in the form of awareness or attention, we start to see, hear, and feel what is within us. 
We experience our emotions, intentions, desires, fears, blame, regret, love, and much more. 
In this state, I experienced all these emotions, and more. 
In addition, I felt a sense of peace lingering from somewhere within me but I could not find the source of it. Although, I realized something strange – this sense of peace was giving me a feeling of happiness and freedom. I was awe-struck!

I realized that this feeling of peace and happiness was always within me, but I had suppressed it. I was so focused on gaining happiness from outside, that I did not even consider looking inwards. And, to make matters worse, my situation made me feel that I did not deserve happiness. This was another shocking revelation.

So, over the next few weeks, during my meditation, in a gentle manner, I started to shine more light (awareness) on this feeling of peace, happiness, as well as many limiting beliefs that I noticed.

As we treat a flower, I offered water and sunshine (nourishment) to my suppressed feelings and allowed it to blossom. Flowers of peace, happiness, confidence, and wisdom started to grow, and it continues even today. I can honestly say that most of the day, more than 90% of the time, I’m at peace, I’m happy, and there is an inner smile. At times, I even ask myself, “Why am I happy?” and I cannot find a reason – I am happy for no reason. But, the truth is that I’m happy and peaceful, not because of anything, but simply because that is who I am.

I have come to the conclusion that the wise men were always right – happiness is within you. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that many of you will not find this true happiness. Why?

Because you are too afraid to look within yourself. You are subconsciously aware that when you unlock this so called “treasure chest” within you, you will also encounter feelings and emotions that you have suppressed your entire life. In addition you are also afraid of the limitless potential that you will discover within, because you don’t believe that you will be able to live up to who you truly are. Marianne Williamson expresses this very well in a poem, where she writes, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us”.

As always, my number one suggestion is to practice meditation. But many of you will not choose this path, because you feel that it’s too difficult. That is false, however if you choose to believe it, then I will not change your belief. So, here is another technique.

Cultivate a sense of enthusiasm, since now you know that we are all motivated by the same force – happiness. However, the manner in which we approach happiness differs between individuals. Some of us seek happiness through extrinsic factors (outwards) such as wealth, fame, and beauty while others seek happiness intrinsically (inwards) through purpose or mastery in some discipline.

If you are extrinsically motivated, you may achieve your desires, but that journey will be filled with frustration and fatigue. Alternatively, if you are intrinsically motivated you will always be full of energy, grace, and creativity. And ironically, the intrinsically motivated individuals also attain the extrinsic rewards of wealth, fame, and inner beauty.

Finally once you’ve discovered this inner happiness and peace, it will become an expression of you. Whatever you choose to do will be from a place of happiness, instead of seeking happiness. Without a doubt you will experience moments of peace and happiness that are not dependent on any situation or person. This is when the flowers of peace and happiness have blossomed in your garden, and you will have no other choice but to share these flowers with everyone you encounter.

 “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Gandhi

Serve with Joy & Humility

The topic of my speech today was “service”, and I won the best speaker award. The following is a summary of the speech.

I have always been the type of person that would go out of my way to help others. Whether it may be repairing their computers, teaching them something, or even renovating their apartments. I would not help others because of any incentive, but simply because I enjoyed being of service.

A few years ago, after my eye surgeries, I felt like the tables had turned. I was no longer able to serve people; I was now on the receiving end of service. This situation tremendously hurt my ego, because I started to feel helpless and worthless. To make matters worse, people who would see me walking down the stairs with assistance would often ask if I was mentally challenged. This would pierce my heart like an arrow, and I would respond by saying, “No, I have low-vision, and by the way, I’m a network engineer”. I felt the need to justify myself by telling them about my successful career.

Fortunately, a few weeks later, an incident occurred that completely changed my perspective about being of service to others. One evening, once the elevator reached our floor, my mom assisted me to get on so that I would not trip on the step. There was an elderly man already in the elevator when we entered. He felt extremely sad when he looked at me, and asked my mom “What is wrong with this boy?”

I responded to him with a smile and said, “I have low-vision.”

I could feel the pain in his heart as he said to my mom again “but he is so young.”

We just smiled as the elevator continued to the ground floor, and my mom once again assisted me out of the elevator.

It was on that day that I realized one of my purposes in life – it’s to generate compassion within others. I would always feel offended when others would ask about my condition, or hold my hand while we walk. But today, I have realized that these individuals are not just doing me a favor, I’m also helping them by offering them an opportunity to serve. There have been many days during which it is bright enough for me to walk alone, but my friends or family members would still choose to hold my hand. Even when I would tell them that I’m fine walking, alone, they respond saying something like “why am I not allowed to hold you?” Sometimes there’s even a competition of who gets an opportunity to help me, from kids to elderly people.

It is the feeling of compassion that empowers a person to serve others. Compassion is a feeling of shared suffering for another form of life with the desire to alleviate that suffering. Compassion is often observed as a type of selfless service, generosity, or kindness.

Through my experience, I would like to emphasize that service is never a one-way street. If we serve others in some way, we are also receiving service in another form, whether it may be a sense of gratitude or a boost to our ego. Therefore, we must be humble when we are serving. We must remind ourselves that we are blessed to have the opportunity to serve others.

Similarly, if we are on the receiving end of service, we must also curb our pride. We must allow others to serve us. In addition, you may have noticed that many individuals who are on the receiving end of the service sometimes express a bitter or frustrated attitude. This is not because they do not appreciate the service they are receiving, it’s simply because they feel helpless in that situation and they do not know of any way to relieve that feeling. However, there is a way to calm this bitter and frustrated attitude. It is by practicing mindfulness such as meditation, which will enhance the person’s sense of gratitude as well as create inner peace and acceptance.

I invite you to start practicing compassion towards others, but most importantly towards yourself first. Simply observe your inner voice, is it critical or is it kind?

Compassionate individuals are those of us that have experienced our share of suffering, and feel empathy for others who are facing similar challenges. We realize that just like us, others are also seeking happiness and trying to avoid pain.

Finally, through compassion our hearts open and we experience oneness with all. The most elevated emotion radiated by the heart is compassion, and it benefits our health in addition to helping us develop spiritually.

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” – Tagore

The Power of a Namaskar

I’m not really a fan of yoga because I find it extremely difficult to twist and turn my body, and I always end up feeling embarrassed because I cannot bend down and touch my toes. However, I was excited when I came across the easiest yoga pose, the Namaskar pose, also known as a hand gesture (mudra). 

Namaskar or Namaste is a Hindu greeting, which means “I acknowledge and respect the divinity within you”. I touch my hands together in a Namaskar pose whenever I pray or meet someone I respect. But, today I learned that this Namaskar gesture offers a great benefit for our bodies.

As we touch our hands together in the Namaskar gesture it balances the two polarities of our energy, such as the yin/yang, logical/creative brain, Shiva/Shakti energy etc. 

I practiced this for about 10 minutes this morning, and could really feel the energy balancing as well as felt more in harmony. 

I invite you to practice the Namaskar hand gesture for 10 minutes everyday and experience the harmonizing of your energies.