Kindness is a superpower available to every human being. From sparing a glass of water for a thirsty traveller, to giving shelter to a stray animal, little compassionate actions go a long way in making the world a better place.
In the stories in this book, there are boys and girls, men and women, whose acts of kindness have left a mark on time. A young Prince Siddhartha tends a wounded swan struck by a thoughtless arrow. Kabir saves a goat when the river at the ghat in Varanasi rises suddenly. Krishna welcomes his long-lost friend Sudama with generosity. Baha’u’llah in distant Tehran gives shelter to a lost wanderer, and Nanak uses the coins given to him not for profit, but to cook a meal—a langar—for a group of poor travellers.
Many children from these stories went on to become great spiritual thinkers—the Buddha, Guru Nanak, the Dalai Lama, Zarathustra, Mahavira, Kabir, the Prophet Yusuf. Some names have passed into history and legend, like the Good Samaritan and Tenali Rama, and some names remain unknown, but whose kindness and courage have inspired many others to create a chain of goodness.
Uplifting, inspiring, and necessary, the stories in A Heart Full of Kindness show that we are all capable of love, and it takes just a tiny drop of courage to stand up to cruelty and fear.