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Two Strangers In Tanzania

2 min read
[Below is a touching share from yesterday's Awakin Circle in Santa Clara, prompted by a reading on universality.]

Hi, I'm Jackie and when I was about nine years old, I decided that we were all one. I knew that every place in the world could be home intellectually, but I knew that I wasn't going to experience that -- that things far away seem strange, and that I really wanted to live someplace different. I just determined that I was going to do that. And when I grew up, we did.

It is different to experience the oneness of people and the wholeness of the whole world than it is to know it intellectually. And to know that people are the same underneath, although they are different. That the sameness is just as important -- if not more important -- than the differences.

I think I experienced it the most when we were in Tanzania and I had a 10-month-old baby who went into a seizure in the middle of the night. We were traveling and we didn't know what to do. We left the place we were in and went outside two Tanzanian men stopped in their car and said, "Can we help you?"

They took us to the hospital.

And the next day they came back to see that the baby was okay. These were just two strangers in a car in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

It makes you realize the oneness of all people.
Posted by Dinesh Mehta on January 4, 2018
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Community Reflections

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4 Reflections shared

Somik Raha Jan 4, 2018
Thank you for sharing this, uncle! Inspired to read it.
Ranjeet Jan 5, 2018
Touching
Vinod Jan 5, 2018
If we can connect with our hearts, I don’t think we will find any strangers anywhere.
Kristin Jan 5, 2018
Thank you for your post. It reminded me that when I was about 9 yrs old I decided all religions must have the same universal GOD which was LOVE. As kids I think we understand that universal sameness in all of us, in all beings, human and non-human. I lived in Tanzania for over 10 years, I could happily go on and on about my amazing Tanzanian friends, and the random strangers I met there who helped me in times of need. They treated me with love and kindness, and my love for them runs deeply. I believe this is the potential for all people everywhere, if we choose love instead of fear.

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