Love transforms

Among the huge number of people at Impact Week, I serendipitously bumped into the amazing agent (and angel) of change, Lam Nguyen-Phuong. (extreme left).

That led to me learning about and watching “Loving Karma” and attending an event by Asia Philanthropy Circle which hosted Lobsang Phuntsok, a former monk and founder of Jhamtse Gatsal, the non-profit featured in the film.

The seeds of our purpose lie in our own lives. In his TEDx talk, Lobsang says he learned: ”My most unbearable pain is my most powerful resource.”

Born in the toilet to a single mother, Lobsang was left under dried leaves used to cover human excrement. He showed many behavioural problems and was sent to the monastery. He became a monk, and later, started the community for unwanted children.

His inner transformation and healing (including healing of the relationship with his mother) led to his service. Today Jhamtse is a community and learning center that impacts people globally. The children there are nurtured to be changemakers.

🔆 “Love transforms.” These were my first words to Lobsang. He takes in unwanted children and they go through a process of transformation through love.   In fact, when asked how he chooses the children they take in, he goes for those with the worst behavioural challenges.

🔆 Lobsang asked me what I thought after watching the film. I said Jhamtse is a jewel – small but its radiance is far-reaching. Because his work is deep.  Those of us who are doing smaller scale, deep work can find inspiration in this.

Lam wisely said “deep” is a different kind of scale. Yes. We need to cultivate the eyes and heart to appreciate this, and not only look at visible numbers reached through social impact initiatives.

🔆 Lobsang said education should teach about love. YES. This is true literacy for life. And to do this, it is also the teachers who need to be cared for and embody love to the children.  It cannot just come from unembodied lessons, taught clinically.

🔆  Lobsang teaches the children to gift others with their Presence. He teaches them to transform themselves so they become like butterflies who are light and don’t get poked by the thorns of the rose-bush.

This has been a key life lesson for me too. We are focused so much on doing but what does someone experience around our presence and Being? That is the litmus test of our growth and service.

At Inner Wealth, we coined the term “inner billionaire”, for people who embody qualities such as love, wisdom, service and inner growth. Their richness lies in meaning, purpose, depth and the difference they humbly make in others’ lives.

All of us have an inner billionaire within, to be awakened for the wellbeing of all. One of my great joys is meeting inner billionaires like Lobsang and Lam. In the presence of inner billionaires, we are inspired to cultivate our own inner billionaire.

What do people experience in your Presence?
Who are the inner billionaires who inspire you?