Wednesday, September 29, 2004

When does Coal turn into Diamond?

A strict disciplinarian, he was dogmatic in everything and extremely fastidious when it came to household chores. He rarely appreciated anyone. He had a judgmental character and was distrusting of everyone around him. He scolded anyone for committing the simplest of mistakes. He was a grumpy old man, my dad.
Needles to say, I and my siblings and our mom were full of resentment and indignation coupled with a feeling of helplessness for as long as he was alive.

Now, the reason I have divulged this, is because it occurred to me today that this man, my dad had played his role extremely well from a spiritual standpoint. He was placed in our midst for a divine reason; for us to learn patience and forgiveness and he provided plenty of opportunities for us to practice them. We must have been quite stubborn in learning the virtues, so he had to be tough. We weren’t thankful for the opportunity. So we couldn’t move on to a different experience. It was all perfectly orchestrated. Without pressure, coal wouldn’t turn into diamond.

This thought dawned on me as I was praying in the morning and as I do everyday, I was thanking God for everything he has blessed me with by going over a list in my mind and I was drawn to thank my dad for providing me the opportunity to be forgiving and patient. This simple act of thanking greatly reduced the resentment and indignation that I held in my mind and I realized the more I practice gratitude, the easier it will be for the virtues of forgiveness and patience to become part of my consciousness.


The Universe provides us with challenges all the time with only one purpose, to experience the various attributes. If you go through these experiences with equanimity, acceptance and gratitude, your experience becomes complete and hence it will be easier to tide over them. Resistance is futile.

So what challenges and pressures are you facing currently? What do you think you are supposed to learn from them?

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