आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन | सुखं वा यदि वा दु:खं स योगी परमो मत: || 32 || |
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“He is the perfect yogi who sees all living beings equally and considers the joys and sorrows of others as his own.”
Commentary: To a yogi who realizes the love of God, no one is a stranger. To be happy when others are happy and sad when others are sad is a divine quality. One of the aspects of love is empathy – ability to feel what others are feeling. Empathy should be followed with compassion – the desire to respond and act. Participating in others’ happiness without criticizing and their sadness without belittling is recognized by God as a noble quality.
Empathy and compassion do not arise in the heart automatically for everyone. Some are naturally born with these qualities however, they can be developed consciously with some effort. It starts with parents when their child turns a teenager. At 12 or 13 years, the child should be allowed to participate in volunteering and other service-related activities in their local community, temple or other social service organizations. Along with daily introspection, these activities develop emotional maturity in the child which will help him/her to perform duties as a bachelor and as a householder. Most people think that they have completed all responsibilities in life after retirement, or after children and grandchildren are settled. As long as we are borrowing air from Mother Nature to breathe for our life, we have duties to perform. For 30 to 40 more years, retired senior citizens can still lead happy and active lives by reaching out to people and helping them.
Every person is a wave rising and falling a million times in the infinite ocean of God’s presence. When we can feel the ups and downs in the hearts of a million waves, we can start to feel the oceanic depth of God’s Heart.