Who is a real saint?

While I was enlightening my students on life skills, one of them asked me ‘Who is a real saint? Can I be a saint?

I am not a philosopher but I tried explaining it in a very simple way: I asked him to tell me the characteristic of saints. He said; ‘They wear some special clothes so that they can look like saints. Anybody can recognize them by looking at their clothes. At this, I explained, you do not need to wear some special clothes to act like a saint. The most important character which a real saint has or you should have is willingness to help others; sacrifice. If helping others gives you happiness, you’re very much like a saint inside You become a real saint by sharing others’ sorrow and helping them overcome the difficult phases of their lives not by showcasing your outer part to the world. A real saint is he who believes in taking others pain, who believes in sacrifice and want to make the entire world a better place for others.

You can still practice a life of a saint while you are taking care of your day to day professional and personal challenges!