Being open to miracles, surprises and coincidences

Those who know me up close, know that I am not much of a religious person and that I usually avoid going to religious places of worship even as I love listening to bhajans, sufiana kalaams, Christian hymns, prayers and the like along with listening to Kabir amritvanis and other nirgun bhakti songs and spiritual music and that I have a good collection of both religious prayers and spiritual music.

And yet, something interesting happened today.

I was to meet someone whose story I wanted to listen for the next book I am writing.

None of the restaurants had opened by that time for us to sit and discuss.

And so he offered to meet at a temple and by that time the build-up inside me regarding why I wanted to write that book and share the stories of those people with the wider world out there had become such that as I stepped out of his car and had begun walking towards the temple, I found myself praying to the formless, sect-less, denomination-less, name-less, religion-less divine to make me the scribe and the pen to write and share with the world the tales of courage and heroism of those unknown heroes and to accept my gratitude and humble pranaams in return for making me the medium to bring their stories to light.

I use the following words in my email signature line: Be open to miracles and surprises.

And guess what?

As I entered the temple and bowed with folded hands with the thoughts of the book in my mind, it was this Hari Om Sharan bhajan that was playing on in the temple at that very moment: Sweekaro Mere Parnaam!!!!!!

What I experienced when the coincidence struck me on hearing that bhajan is beyond words for me to describe here.

Sohum

_/\_