There is a famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Sometimes I wonder how many people actually live that way. I certainly hear a lot of complaints about how the world is going these days, especially about the government and how everything is such a mess. But I wonder how many people think about their own behaviors, and how they could make the world a little better?

I think sometimes we get overwhelmed by thinking, “I’m just a tiny human being, what I do really doesn’t matter”. But that thinking is quite foolish, one human being has always been the first step in changing the world. Daisaku Ikeda says at the beginning of his wonderful novel The Human Revolution: “A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.”

I find the hardest thing is “walking the talk”. As a long time (greater than 25 years) practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism, I really do try to have heart to heart dialogues with everyone I meet, and treat them with respect, but sometimes, when someone is especially rude to me, at the Post Office, where I am often shipping packages, or on line at Costco, or on the Belt Parkway (a certain suburb of Hell, for those who are not from New York City) – I find it especially hard to be that change! But every time I am successful, I feel that I have contributed in some small way to world peace.

An example occurred last week, when I was on the train, on my way back from the Accessories Show at The Javits Center, where I picked up LOTS of great new items for The Treasure Tower. A young man next to me did not realize that the train required a Peak ticket and did not have the money to upgrade ($2.50). I paid it for him and suddenly the harried train conductor smiled and said “That sort of thing makes me so happy”, and the young man and I had a lovely conversation about the similarities between Buddhism and Orthodox Judaism, which was his religion. Who knows where that small gesture led…….

So if you need some inspiration to “Be the change…” – I have just started carrying home decor at The Treasure Tower and have a lovely wall hanging with that quote. And please, write me with instances of your own actions that have changed the world in a positive way ……

Gandhi Wall Hanging