The Power to Heal One's Soul.

Trauma is an emotional matter, neither legal nor intellectual. That is why its easy for many onlookers to be judgemental and philosophical, when one is not the victim or the affected one. 

Traumatic events leave deep scars in the mind, body and spirit of victims. The tragedy is no amount of rationalisation nor any amount of punishment can undo events that have already occurred. 

Victims have to suffer twice. 

The first when the event takes place which is short and brutal. The second is, living with the wound of the tragedy that comes to completely dominate a victim's being. It is like a toxic geyser which keeps spewing hatred and venom that consumes the victim more slowly and certainly manifold times more terrifying than the initial assault.

How can one heal oneself?

To heal oneself, one has to remove and fling out of our heart and mind, that poisonous anger and hatred that festers within our being. That magic formula is for us forgive the perpetrators. It is easier done that said, because all it requires is courage.

All great masters and faiths have taught humanity that we should forgive. The power of an individual to forgive cannot be given nor can it be taken away by anyone else. To forgive can be the greatest act of freedom an individual can exercise. 

Forgiveness is a healing but prevents nothing  from repeating or getting worse.

Forgiveness is an emotional act, a matter of the heart, and the heart is a private matter, only the individual can exercise it.

Forgiveness does not mean submission, nor forgetting nor deleting the memories nor does it imply not taking corrective action.  Corrective action is  the responsibility of the State and the Community, failing which there will be anarchy.

States and Communities are not individuals. The welfare and protection of all people is the responsibility of the State and Community in general. The leaders have no prerogative to forgive  en masse nor erase memories on behalf of the victims. It is obligatory that the State and Society must take steps to ensure that its not possible to commit the crime again. 

This is why it is mandatory for the State must enact laws and award punishments to deter others from repeating the offence. 

It is also obligatory for leaders in the community to ensure that current and future generations receive an education on the real history of events. 

Unfortunately many cowardly or ineffective social and political leaders for their own personal gains, sweep the crimes under the carpet, where they rot and grow in size and intensity until they violently erupt once again one day. Some leaders wanting to be seen as 'Holier than thou' usurp the right of the individuals and unilaterally  'forgive and forget' crimes, in which they personally are not the victims. This is extremely dangerous, and as a result the crimes are repeated again and again. 

Like in many places and times in the world, we in India have experienced great trauma. The only way we can move ahead is to come to terms with the reality of our history, find out root causes of why we were vulnerable as individuals and as a civilisation and take corrective action. Only then can we be a vibrant, happy and harmonious society.

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How she healed herself and inspired millions

Eva Kor

One of histories recent great tragedies is The Holocaust, where six million men, women and children were simply exterminated. Their only crime was that they were believers of the Jewish faith.

There is this great example of Eva Kor a Holocaust survivor. Her story of how she journeyed from a traumatised victim to a healed and liberated soul is inspiring.

After 50 years she made contact with one of her tormentors, revisited Auschwitz and forgave a surviving Nazi doctor from Auschwitz. She took a very long time but she even forgave Dr. Mengale the mastermind of the human Guinea pig program. 

You can view the inspiring video on the great tragedy and the power of healing

I survived The Holocaust Twin Experiments - By Eva Mozes Kor

International Holocaust Remembrance Day - 27 Jan 2018

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

 - Plato

Plato was a great and wise Greek author & philosopher who lived in Athens - Greece (427 BC - 347 BC)

Forgive me, for I have sinned

A river is a source of life, nurturing people, vegetation, and animals living on the lands through which it flows.  The river is only doing its duty, following it's nature or what people in the East call as 'Dharma'.


Similarly humans are true to their nature. Our lives are akin to a river, alive and full of character. All humans possess their natural qualities of lust, anger, greed, ego and attachments to people and things. We need these qualities to survive. As long as they remain within reasonable limits, these qualities will help us to live healthy and happy lives.

Lust is essential for us to procreate, that is to produce children and live healthy lives. Ego permits us to give confidence to others so that they cooperate and support our endeavours. Anger is necessary to prevent being run over by one and all. Reasonable greed compels us to go out and acquire food, shelter, security and comfort for ourselves and our dependants. Attachment is necessary for us to preserve what we have acquired with so much effort.

Nature is all about balance. As long as there is balance there is tranquility. Sometimes we develop insatiable lust or greed, unlimited anger, undue attachment or get blinded by our ego our lives get imbalanced. The imbalance always causes disharmony, inconvenience and sometimes even agony to ourselves and others. Life becomes a living hell.

Life as can be seen in every facet of nature, is about balance. As long as there is balance there is tranquility. Sometimes we develop insatiable lust or greed, unlimited anger, undue attachment or get blinded by our ego our lives get imbalanced. The imbalance causes agony and inconvenience to ourselves and others.

Awakening and wisdom lies in each individual understanding of who and what they are and what is reasonable and necessary for themselves. People who flow with nature are at peace with themselves, are compassionate, peaceful, happy and useful to themselves and others.




Over the ages and from time to time, Gurus, masters, prophets, messiahs and teachers have come, awoken and guided humanity.  They made people realise that they were all spiritual beings.

Soon after the masters and Gurus left this earth, many clever but not necessarily good people have interpreted the teachings to suit their own convenience. They use organised religion not to liberate or make people spiritual but  to manipulate and control them. for their own purposes





Priests and custodians of all organised religions, in league with political leaders and rulers, have discovered a powerful approach to manipulate and exploit the masses. Messing up minds they inflict on them a terrible sense of guilt, and the masses will do whatever the priests want. Guilt is mostly manufactured. They make people feel guilty not only of having these natural human qualities but even for thinking about them.

This is the reason why in the name of religion, more blood has been shed and more misery caused than all other reasons combined.




'Guilty', people feel they have sinned, and sinners need to be unburdened of their guilt. The priests can demand whatever they like of the guilty and the sinner will gladly pay the price just to feel liberated.






People will repeatedly behave true to their human nature. This will always be considered as a 'sin' by the priests. There are two choices behave unnaturally or to 'sin'. The dilemma is that both choices are bad.

This sets people up to be continuously exploited by the priests. This in turn results in a perpetual  and ever increasing empowerment and enrichment of the priests and the religious bodies. Little  wonder that all organised religious bodies and their caretakers are immensely wealthy and powerful and that there is a constant struggle to control religious bodies.

Many 'religious' people themselves are full of the same human qualities and 'sins' for which they ask us to atone.

Next time ask yourself if you really are a sinner before you ask for forgiveness.

The Bitter Woman

We may not be aware of it but every encounter with a living being effects us in some way or the other. 

This is why the ancients stressed upon the company we keep. Good, noble and loving people enrich us and some not so good people tend to impoverish us.

With good fortune, it was on Guru Poornima (full moon) at the ashram of Baba Ishwar Singh in Dehradun (India) that my wife Mohini and I met a spiritual man, Kulwinder Singh who drives a taxi in NewYork city (USA) for a living.

Contrary to perception, truly spiritual individuals are genuine egoless people, often witty, deep in character and exuding peace & joy. Their presence always leads to an awakening, like the petals of the bud blooming into a flower. An spiritual person can impart positive energy to us if we are receptive.

Kulwinder had many experiences to share as a cab driver. People drifted into his life for a few minutes to a couple of hours. After much prodding by me he shared several of the experiences he had with various passengers.

Here is an experience he shared about ‘The bitter woman’.

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One day a lady got into Kulwinder's cab. She was busy on her cellular phone and snapped an address at Kulwinder. She was in a terrible mood and was quarreling  with someone at the other end of the phone. Soon after they started they got caught in a traffic jam.  

The woman turned her wrath on Kulwinder screaming and using rather foul language, venting her bitterness and unpleasantness on him also. She blamed Kulwinder for getting them stuck in the slow moving road traffic and then she went back to her war against the unfortunate person on the phone. This was repeated several times during the long drive. Kulwinder remained unaffected by the woman's disgraceful behaviour.

About 10 minutes before they reached their destination the woman hung up her phone, brooding for a while before holding her face in her hands and began to cry.

When they arrived Kulwinder said “ Miss we are here” . The woman just sat unmoving in her seat. Kulwinder reminded her a couple of times that they had arrived at her destination.

She looked up and started crying again and said “ I am sorry, I abused you, I know my behaviour was unacceptable. You may not know it but I am not a bad person, and normally do not behave in this way. However I am very curious as to, why did you not react and say something back?”

Kulwinder replied “ Miss, I do not know what your problem is and why you behaved in the way you did. I cannot change you or your circumstances but I can definitely manage my response. If you permit me I can tell you what I believe in and maybe you will understand why I did not react”

The woman still sniffing requested Kulwinder to say more.

“ Let me first tell you a story about Mahatma** Buddha” Kulwinder said;

One day as he approached a village, Mahatma Buddha met an aggressive man who was in a foul mood. He started abusing Lord Buddha, who merely stood there listening to the man for quite a while as the insolent man went on and on with his acidic tirade.

At last, exhausted and emptied of his toxic anger the man sat down.

Mahatma Buddha politely asked " If you have finished , may I proceed on my journey?

The foul mouthed man looked at the Mahatma in astonishment and said; “ I have been so bitter in my behaviour towards you and abusive in my conduct, yet you just looked at me smilingly. Are you deaf, a coward or mad? “

Mahatma Buddha said “ I have just come from the neighbouring village. As I was departing from that village, a kind man presented me a tray of wonderful sweets. I took the tray, and I shared the sweets with other residents of the village and everyone was happy. Unfortunately my brother, you gave me something which I cannot share with anyone else, therefore I cannot accept what you have showered on me. You must take what you have brought here for me, back with you.”

Kulwinder told the woman “ Had I accepted what you gave me, I would have shared the misery with the next passenger, and whoever I came in contact with for the rest of the day. Imagine the pain and anguish I would have inflicted on my family when I returned home. Forget me for a while , think what will happen to you when you walk around with this toxic anger? How will be your behaviour with your loved ones and your family?”

The woman started sobbing uncontrollably and after a few minutes said “please forgive me and thank you for your words of wisdom”

Kulwinder Singh, replied “ It is God you must thank for his great mercy and kindness and my Guru for his teachings which I imbibe.”

*Guru Poornima is also the auspicious day on which lord Buddha gave His first sermon at Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh, India).

** Mahatma means great soul.