The Art of Giving
"Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do tree eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them. The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others?
Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered.
The first question is when should one give?
We all know the famous incident from Mahabharat.
Yudhisthir, asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day. On this, Bhim rejoices, that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death! For he is sure that he will be around tomorrow to give. Yudhisthir gets the message.
One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give!
The time to give therefore is now.
The next question is 'how much to give?
One recalls the famous incident from history. Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Moghals. He had lost his army, he had lost his wealth, and most important he had lost hope, his will to fight. At that time in his darkest hour, his erstwhile minister Bhamasha came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day.
The answer to this question how much to give is
"Give as much as you can!
The next question is what to give?
It is not only money that can be given. It could be a flower or even a smile.
It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters. When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing received by him in days and weeks!
"You can give anything but you must give with your heart!
One also needs answer to this question whom to give?
Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking. However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving is not justified.
“Give without being judgmental!
Next we have to answer 'How to give?
Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud by giving.
In giving follow the advice, ’Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives? Charity without publicity and fanfare is the highest form of charity.
'Give quietly!
While giving let not the recipient feel small or humiliated. After all what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing. The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us? Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude.
What should one feel after giving?
We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as "Guru Dakshina?he unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya.
There is a little known sequel to this story. Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb. He replied, and the reply has to be believed to be true, as it was asked to him when he was dying.
His reply was "Yes! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son Ashwathama and had stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru?
The message to us is clear.
Give and never regret giving!
And the last question is
‘How much should we provide for our heirs?
Ask yourself 'are we taking away from them the gift of work'? - A source of happiness! The answer is given by Warren Buffett:
"Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing!
I would conclude by saying: let us learn the Art of Giving, and quoting Sant Kabir:
"When the wealth in the house increases, when water fills a boat, Throw them out with both hands!
This is the wise thing to do.
A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said:
'Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help!
My baby is not even 1 yr. old and I'm pregnant again.
I don't want kids so close together.'
So the doctor said: 'Ok, and what do you want me to do?'
She said: 'I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this.'
The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady:
'I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you, too.'
She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.
Then he continued:
'You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.
The lady was horrified and said: 'No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child! 'I agree', the doctor replied. 'But you seemed to be ok with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution. The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point. He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb.
The crime is the same!
Two Fishermen.
One man was an experienced fisherman, and
the other was not. Everytime the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he
put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced
fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back. The experienced fisherman
watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste
good fish.
"Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked.
The inexperienced fisherman replied "I only have a small frying pan."
Sometimes like the fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams, big
jobs, big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small. We laugh
at that fisherman who did not figure out that all he needed was a BIGGER
FRYING PAN yet how ready are we to increase the SIZE OF OUR FAITH. Whether
it's a problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger
than you can handle. That means we can confidently walk into anything God
brings our way.
GIVE ME OH GOD
DEEP THOUGHTS
HIGH DREAMS
FEW WORDS
MUCH SILENCE
THE NARROW PATH
THE WIDE OUTLOOK
THE END IN PEACE.
AMEN.
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