Acceptance

I have been very lucky to do my yoga and ayurvedic training through the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. It is a wonderful center and always feels like going home. Familiar faces, familiar smells and big hugs greet you. I love seeing Deepak. He is a wise, kind and compassionate man.

Every workshop I have attended includes a mental exercise with Dr. Chopra. He asks you to think of a person that you admire and write down five words that describe them. He then asks you to think of a person that you do not like and write down five words that describe them. He then asks you to draw a big circle and randomly place all of the words in the circle.

He calls on a person in the audience to stand up and read their list. When they finish reading their positive and negative words, Deepak always smiles and says "Nice to meet you." The theory is that everyone is a mirror of yourself. When you enjoy or detest a quality in someone, it is because they are activiting that in yourself. Of course, the person who has read their now very private list outloud is taken aback, but Deepak explains that he wouldn't want to know the person that has only the good or only the bad qualities. That person would be boring. All of your qualities combined make you interesting and make you human.

Deepak is a person who practices non-judgment and compassion. He simply observes your nature and accepts you. He has demonstrated this lately with his beautiful comments and discussion of his friend Michael Jackson. He enjoyed Michael. He didn't endorse or agree with Michaels choices or behavior, but he honored that Micheal, like you and I, are on our own journey and in our own play. He saw the good and the bad and was simply present with compassion and love.

Accept people as they are. Everyone has their stuff. It makes them interesting. Let Karma do the judging.