Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Mrs Madhu Jain, member of Interfaith Scotland and Hindu Mandir Glasgow.
Dear Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, I thank you for providing me with the opportunity to address you today.
As human beings we are all the same, no matter our origin, background or religion. We are all one. God makes us appear different, but we think the same way and do the same things but in our own different ways.
Life these days is full of stress and daily life is becoming harder, but if we begin our day with five minutes to ourselves and relax our minds and say our prayers, remembering how God has blessed us with wonderful things, that will help. The Bhagavad Gita suggests that we do our duty to the best of our ability and learn to be satisfied with the result itself.
Learning to accept our own situation with a positive attitude can prevent a lot of mental turmoil. The world is organised to help us grow and let things fall into place. We just need to believe. We should speak honestly and positively and not in an agitating manner. Our speech should not be harsh and insensitive. If our speech causes others pain and distress, these acts will come back to us and take away our own peace. Therefore, if we attempt to bring peace to others, then the universe and God will send peace our way.
Om Shanti Om. The word shanti means peace: peace for all humankind; peace for all living and non-living beings; peace for the universe. Hindus not only pray for themselves or their own religion; they pray for everyone and everything and that is what our Vedas teach us to do.
Most of us create our own problems by interfering too often in others’ affairs. God has created each one of us in a unique way. We need to respect that and respect others.
In life sometimes we become disappointed and disheartened. When I was young and studying, I was feeling very nervous and thought I could never pass my exams. My father, who was a principal, told me that nothing is impossible and you can only keep trying—God will help you. Since then, I have kept that in my mind and, even in hard times when I feel I cannot do any more, I remember that nothing is impossible. We should all remember that nothing is impossible. Thank you.