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I recently had lunch with a man who I had not seen in 15 years.

The restaurant was crowded and chatty. There were some gorgeous aromas escaping from the kitchen, and you could hear the clatter of utensils on plates as diners sampled the curries and vindaloos and tikka masalas.

I'm not going to tell you too much about the man. Not about what sports he played, or his age, or his skin color, or his religion. He was not a man of "authority". He was not famous, and he did not hold a position of "importance". He was not a politician, or a clergy member, or a teacher, or a boss.

He was a very pleasant person, with a big smile, and with simple and polite gestures. He was a little bit quiet. Not noisy like the couple next to us, who raised their voices to get attention. Not noisy like the mother on the other side of us, who scolded her child loudly (not to correct the child, but sort of as an apology to the other diners for her son's behavior, to justify that she was at least trying by yelling at him). And not like the young man across from us who kept opening his lighted flip-phone, to show the rest of us the cool gadget he owned.

No, the man with me was kind of peaceful. I'm not sure if anyone else in the restaurant even noticed him. The man was also very polite with the waiters.

We had a nice meal, and talked about a wide range of topics. The man had lived in Africa and India, and had three daughters. I bet he was a fantastic Dad.

At one point we talked a bit about the pain in the world today. The man told me an interesting thing he does to help (in addition to volunteering at a homeless shelter and giving money to charities etc)...

When he is on the subway, he sees another passenger, and the man tries to radiate love to him or her. The man believes that if he can send out a beam of love, and if it is received only by a small number of people, that it will help make the world just a little bit more peaceful.