Om Swami

Your name speaks for itself, yet we can only pray to understand you some more. What we know, what we grasp is but the tip of a humongous iceberg. Your infinite kind acts, the compassion you show us all, your Divine skills, your unheard wisdom and this Divine side which you show the world, they don’t portray the whole truth. Whatever we see is the tip of the iceberg of Divine love, of the Divine Himself. This tip may make up only 0.1% of who you are because the remaining 99.9% all lie in your own words:

“I want you to know one thing: I care about you. More than you’ll ever know. And nothing will ever change that.”  
~ Three Kinds of People, os.me

So, who is Om Swami? I learnt over the years, from my own journey, from the little glimpses I got of you and from those precious realisations, what could please you and how we could make you proud. Who are you and how can we walk the path of truth with you? What does it mean to be yours? We walk, we fall, we fail, we get back up, but try we must. When walking the path of truth in your shade, with you by our side, we can walk fearlessly.

But still, what can we do?

1. Be Kind

Truly being kind, but not just as an empty act of showing off our kind nature. I personally feel that in everything I do, I must remember to be kind, because that’s how You are Swami and if we are to say that we are yours, we are left with no other choice. To scold someone harshly only in the name of service, or to be so selfish that we don’t see the need of others isn’t the Om Swami way. So for the year to come, I promise to be even kinder, including to those who are not kind to me too.

What is kindness though? After seeing too many unkind acts, too many selfish acts, a couple of weeks ago I realised something profound: Kindness is a seed which needs space, soil and sun to grow, with space being the freedom to act without being judged, soil being the right attitude to be kind, and the sun being the addictive joy associated with making others happy. In the absence of this freedom, we are unable to be kind, and this is unfortunately the reason why some kids who are innately kind, never get the chance to allow the seed of their kindness to sprout. Let’s condition less, judge less and love more, so we can be kind, freely. 

2. Treat everyone with the same respect, irrespective of their social status, gender, or closeness to YOU.

Unfortunately as we drown in our love, we can get blinded. As you walk among us, Swami, I admire how every single entity holds the same value in your eyes. Yet, us as humans, we put ourselves on a pedestal and discriminate. Our gentleness is partial, our good manners are partial and our love is partial too. If we are to walk the path of truth with you, I feel that we must honour your teachings and almost be your copycat in a positive way. I vow to try and treat everyone with equal respect, whether they are young, older, rich, less well off, your disciple or any stranger on the streets. This world is a big family, and Swami, with your grace allow us to spread your love and teachings, for few are those lucky souls who will get to know you in this life, in any way whatsoever.

3. Stand up for something

All too often, especially in Eastern and my own native culture, we will remain quiet when we see something wrong happening or often we fear standing up for something. Why? Because we mostly care about me, me, mine and myself. Unfortunately, this attitude of ours doesn’t help the world. If we see something wrong, I have learnt from you botj that I ought to be fearless and speak up. I vow to keep standing up for what’s right, equality and for kindness. It’s okay if it is a lonely path, for I know that you are with us. The only one who is with us if we walk the path of truth- it’s you Swami.

4. Help the world

Me Me Me Me, gets old. How much can we live for ourselves after all? Helping others brings the greatest joy. How can we help others? With kind words, a smile or just an encouraging gesture. Tesco has the slogan “Every little helps.”, and verily so! A beautiful thing I learnt from you, is to do our work gracefully and in silence, not for show. You know it all, in fact, you do it all through us. Please bless us so we may keep helping Your world, because that is the way forward, in Your love. 

So, who is Om Swami? He is That. He is here for us. I hope that the world will get to know the answer by watching You, the Mighty Om Swami, roll like a legend, as each little speck of dust who loves You, also helps increase the happiness quotient of this beautiful universe, one person at a time, one day at a time.

Thank you for everything Swami! I hope we always get to see you, in this life and in the eternity to follow, for this life is futile without you and the joy you give us.