The happiest man on earth; my grandfather.
Words can’t really describe what an amazing soul my grandfather was. He touched the lives of thousands; putting a smile on each and every face and filling countless bellies with food and love. He lived on 3 continents, worked hard at turning his dreams into a reality and spent his days feeding people, laughing and making others laugh. He had a deep faith in God and family. And with 8 children, 16 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren, he had the ability to make each one feel special and loved.
He past away last Tuesday, Aug 11 and this past weekend was his funeral. There was and is definitely a lot of grace falling on him and all of us. Luckily he went as peacefully as you can go in a hospital and all the ceremonies thus far have been full of so much love and gratitude for the special place he had in a lot of hearts. There were almost 450 ppl at the funeral and so many of them had just as many heartwarming stories of my grandfather’s compassion, kindness and generosity. Although very sad, the weekend was a beautiful celebration of his well-lived life, huge heart and endless laughter.
In Vedic tradition, they say the first 13 days after a soul leaves their body are most critical, because the soul ideally needs to let go of all it’s attachments from this lifetime and move forward on it’s continued epic soul journey back to God. In the Bhagavad Gita, reincarnation is often described as the soul changing clothes (bodies); the soul is eternal and a part of God therefore it never dies, just the body does.
The scriptures also go on to explain that a soul goes through thousands and thousands of different births until the soul learns how to cultivate a purified mind and body so that noble virtues come naturally and the mind and senses stabilize. It is also said that charity done throughout a souls journey helps it greatly on its voyage. Then as the soul starts paying it’s karmic debts off from past lifetimes, the seeds of liberation germinate and the light of the soul begins to shine brightly. My grandfather’s soul definitely shines bright.
To help my grandfather along on his journey, my family (which is BIG) has been doing a set of morning and evening prayers where they invite friends to join them daily and then throughout the day other prayers are sporadically done….and they will do this until the 13th day. In addition, there are numerous different ceremonies that happen before and after the cremation of the body. And in lieu of flowers, we’ve asked people to make donations to The Canadian Cancer Society and his favorite temples; as all charity done in the name of loved one helps them along in their journey as well.
I have to say, I remember doing these ceremonies when my father passed away ten years ago and it’s amazing how well thought out they are…because as much as they are there to help the soul it’s journey, they are also very illuminating and comforting to those left behind.
Amongst the many tears this weekend, there was a lot of laughing in his honor, strolls down memory lane and food of course :). He was truly a divine spirit, that I’m so honored to call my Dada. Love you to the moon and back, Dada….you’re going to be deeply missed, but we all know you will live on within each of us.
Thank you for all the love and kind words of sympathy some of you have shared through email and my Facebook page; my family and I greatly appreciate everyone’s love.
With peace and love, xo
Kajal
For those that want to learn a little more about reincarnation, here’s a link to a beautiful article on it: http://www.hinduwebsite.com/reincarnation.asp
