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How beautiful to look upon EVERYONE you meet as part of your family and being as dear to you as a brother, a sister, or a parent.

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The Bus Ride
The next morning, I took a bus tour to visit some of the temples in Mt. Abu.

On the way, I saw some nuns and monks of the Jain* religion walking down the road. In one hand, they were carrying their food containers in a white cotton cloth.

With their other hand, they were sweeping the ground ahead of them so that they would not hurt any insects, or even seeds, by accidentally stepping on them.

Their mouths were covered with a small cloth to avoid swallowing even the tiniest insects floating in the air. Because Jains believe that everything has a soul, they respect and protect all forms of life.

The highlight of my bus tour was seeing the famous Jain Dilwara* Temples that are said to have the finest marble carvings in the world. The delicate designs on the inside of the huge marble domes made the ceiling look like it was covered with snowflakes.

We also went to a Hindu temple that had a statue of Shiva.* Shiva is a part of the Hindu Trinity* and represents God's activity within the created universe. To Hindus, he also represents God's power that takes all things back to their origin when their stay in the world is completed.

Though Hinduism* believes in only one God, it gives names and forms to God's many aspects to help us better understand His mysterious power and intelligence. Thinking about what the statue of Shiva symbolizes, I realized that Hinduism, like Christianity, believes in a Trinity.

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Finders Keepers?
The last stop on the tour was at a Hindu temple built on the highest peak in Rajasthan. While going up the path that led to the temple, I stopped to buy some postcards. As I walked away, I felt someone tapping my elbow.

A small, dark-haired boy was standing behind me. To my surprise, in his outstretched hand was my wallet. I must have dropped it when I bought the postcards.

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I offered the boy a reward for returning my wallet, but he would not accept it. I even tried to put some money into his hands, but he put them behind his back. Again, I made an attempt to reward him for his honesty, but he refused. I could not understand why the boy would not take the money.

I went up to a man who could speak English to see if he could help me. "This boy found my wallet and returned it to me. Please explain to him that I want to reward him for his honesty."

The man began talking to the boy in their language. After a few minutes, the boy did most of the talking. I was beginning to wonder if either of them understood me.

Then the man turned to me and said, "This boy does not understand why you should give him any money for returning to you what is yours. The idea of accepting a reward for doing a good deed makes no sense to him."

Finders keepers? No way!

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Which Way?
That night in the ashram, I thought of the little boy's honesty again. It would have taken him many years to earn the amount of money in the wallet, yet he was not tempted to keep it. He listened to his conscience.*

The dictionary defines conscience as the recognition within us of right and wrong regarding what we do and why we do it. It urges us towards right action. Some people believe that our conscience, or inner voice, is the silent voice of God trying to guide us and that if we listen to it, we will always do what is right.

To do what is right in any situation is one of the most important principles of Indian culture, and is one way to explain their concept of dharma.* It means to "Do what you ought to do, not what you want to do."

Think of the little boy who found my wallet. He never considered keeping the wallet for himself when he knew that it belonged to someone else. He returned it because it was the right thing to do and not because he hoped to get a reward. To him, his reward was in knowing that he had done what was right. And that's the best reward of all!

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I hope you enjoyed traveling with me to India. I enjoyed traveling with you. Now it is time for me to say namaste.* Namaste is how many Indians greet each other instead of saying "hello" and "goodbye."

While uttering "namaste," they place the fingers and palms of both hands together in front of the chest and slightly bow the head. It is also called a pranam* and is a gesture of humility and respect.

The respect that people show to each other when they pranam is one of the things I love most about India. In the Sanskrit* language, to pranam or to say namaste means "the God in me bows to the God in you" or "my soul bows to your soul."

It expresses the belief that God is present deep within each of us--that the skin color, the race, or the religion does not alter the divine soul-image of God within each person.

Once we believe and understand this, we will never do anything to anyone that we would not do to God. So dear ones, let your journey begin.

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