Life is what our thoughts are.

It is only our thoughts that make us and we are, indeed, what our thoughts are. In the year 2007, I had been to Ranchi to attend a retreat organized by Yogoda Satsang Society of India. It was a first such instance in my life that I had made my mind to go and attend such a retreat for a spiritual perspective.

Reaching Ranchi and attending the retreat was a wonderful experience that I would relish for my entire life. It was beyond my imagination, that on reaching Ranchi, a group of volunteers would come to receive me at the railway station. The volunteers holding display boards having written “YSS” on it, to make it convenient for devotees to get assembled, greeted everybody with large smiles saying “Jai Guru”. Indeed, it expressed the sense that “We Care”.

It was only after getting assembled there, I became aware that it was not only me who was travelling down to Ranchi alone but as many as seventy devotees to attend the retreat. At the very next moment it made every one of us feel as if we all belong to the same family. Volunteers had arranged a few SUMO Cars, a bus and Ashram’s ambulance to escort us to the Yogoda Satsang Society Ashram. We all reached Ashram immersed in a joy that aroused by singing hymns and praises of God and beloved Guru Paramahansa Yogananda.

About reaching Ashram, before getting a room allotted to us, we were asked to have dinner first so that volunteers rendering duty to manage a kitchen can be set free as no other train was scheduled to arrive after that hour of time. After completing the dinner, we all were allotted a dormitory style room. We soon retired since we had to start early the next day getting up at 4 O’ Clock to prepare ourselves to attend all day long programs.

It was a pleasant winter morning, the next day. It was exciting to walk through lush green gardens seeing a variety of trees and flowers of various colors and textures that we never find in Kachchh. I experienced immense pleasure being there, maybe, because of the sense of being in the place where Guru Paramahansa Yogananda’s presence reverberates.

To attend the retreat as many as two thousand devotees had come from different parts of the world. Among them I noticed a couple sharing an exceptional relationship. I suppose, they must be somewhere in their forties. The wife was extremely beautiful while her husband was very caring. I saw him bringing her tea or breakfast while she used to sit in a nearby garden gazing around with her beautiful eyes. And, the most romantic thing was to see the couple walking hand in hand.

It was only after a couple of days that I came to know the beautiful lady who I was getting affectionate about was blind. It was not only shocking but also difficult to believe it to be true. It left me wondering how she could have been able to manage herself in a perfect elegance despite being blind. I always found her dressed up wearing a perfectly wrapped up sari.

It developed a great sense of respect towards her husband who was so compassionate, supportive and caring. I never saw him getting frustrated of the condition his wife was facing. On the contrary, it seemed as if he had devoted himself to the service to God - in the form of his beautiful wife.

This incident helped me understand what difference it makes to look at things with a different perspective.