Charity – a new outlook, perspective Sairam, I would like to share some of my feelings, thoughts which emerged as I read one of Aravind Balasubramanya’s articles in which swami says “ Be kind towards the poor, needy, helpless & the destitute. Give them what they need, not what would you like to give them. Do acts of charity with love and sacrifice. God sees the feeling behind your acts, not the quantity that is for income tax department – not for god. What you give in charity comes back 10 times more to you….Sathya sai baba. For many years I was wondering regarding swami’s teaching; Bear all and do nothing; Hear all and say nothing; Give all and take nothing; Serve all and be nothing. The first sentence always puzzled me in the sense how can we just bear who are bad, arrogant, nuisance and nonsense creating??? Should we not object, retaliate; teach them a lesson so that they will not do the same thing again & again? But swami is instructing on the contrary, bear all & do nothing. So this statement of swami had always eluded me & somehow I could not get a satisfactory explanation which could pacify my logical mind. Then this statement of swami caught my attention; “What you give in charity comes back 10 times more to you” & then a series of thoughts started to emerge with the divine grace of swami. First i started to think what is charity or donation and what is its scope? Then I realized that it is of several types like donation of food, clothing, education, money, blood & so on. All these are donations which would have a positive influence on the life of the recipient. Then it struck to my mind that practicing truth, righteousness , peace, love, non-violence & other human values, moral values are also acts of charity as they influence, motivate inspire people who are the recipients of those charity. In this aspect I realized that any donation made by the donor in charity would come back to the donor 10 times more as per swami’s statement. Then it suddenly flashed in my mind cannot there be charity which would have a negative impact on the recipient??? Acts of charity which involve donation and sharing of hatred, malice, conceit, criticism, cruelty, treachery, jealousy, lust, greed, anger, crime, discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, creed and gender!!! Why not with the influence of kali being rampant in the so called modern world this seemed to be the most practiced act of charity. To explain this for example, let us assume that a friend of mine unnecessarily shouted or scolded me in frustration without any mistake from my part. This means he has donated me in charity his harsh words and scolding. Now it is obvious that any act of charity involves three things, 1) donor 2) recipient and 3) the substance/thing/object given in charity. Now if I get upset because of his harsh words, scolding, it means I have accepted his charity of harsh words being given to me. At this point I remember the famous story of Buddha who keeps silent even after hearing verbal abuse of a person. He tells his disciples that as he did not took his words in charity those abusive words would remain with the house holder just like the donated food which if refused shall remain with the donor. So according to swami as my friend has donated me the charity of harsh words, in future he shall get the charity of harsh words/scolding 10 times more. On the other hand if I don’t take his harsh words/scolding to heart and remain normal, peaceful, relaxed just like Buddha, it means I didn’t accept the charity of harsh words. So there is no question of charity here as charity requires a recipient. So the charity amount of harsh words remains with my friend who is the donor. Here comes the most beautiful part of the story. Now there is no question of the donor getting back the charity amount of harsh words 10 times more in future as the act of charity didn’t occur in the first place as there was no recipient. So see how great service it is to prevent the charity amount of harsh words/scolding to be delivered to the donor 10 times more in future. This applies equally to all other types of charity which have negative impact on the recipient as I mentioned earlier. The story does not end here. I remained silent peaceful relaxed even when my friend scolded me with harsh words without any mistake from my side. This means I have given him an attitude of kindness, compassion, forbearance, peace and love as an act of charity. Now I am the donor here and he is the recipient & definitely he can’t refuse it because when he notices that you are silent, he has accepted the charity. Later he may regret, repent and may even apologize to me for his rude behavior. Now as I have given kindness, compassion, forbearance, peace and love as an act of charity, as per swami’s words I shall definitely get those 10 times more than that I have donated to my friend. What a soul filling reward. Two fruits with a single stone!!! On one hand I prevented the negative act of charity being returned to my friend and on the other hand I myself shall get the positive impact of good charity 10 times more in future. Now I realize why swami said Bear all and do nothing; Hear all and say nothing; Give all and take nothing ; serve all and be nothing. At this point, I also recollect swami’s words… “Embodiments of Love...When somebody insults you & you remain calm, peaceful & silent chanting my name, it means you didnt accept the insult & it goes back to the person who insulted you. It is just like a registered letter which when not accepted by you goes back to the person who sent it” Cultivate Tolerance towards others faults. Remember God while doing anything & you will remain calm content. Realise that each one around you is a slave to habits. Dont be disturbed by them & shift your focus. Always wear a smile wherever you go, whatever you do. You will be surprised at the change that comes silently to those around you. You must cultivate Love towards everyone, regardless of what they are like or what they do. You have no right to judge if a person or his actions is good or bad. Leave the judgment to God who is the only judge of persons, things & actions. You have to Love all. However hateful or unbearable a person may be, you must show love, affection, understanding, tolerance, sympathy & charity. This is the only way to transform, develop goodness, and love in others…Baba Love is the best medicine for Love, but Love is the only medicine for Hate. Paradoxical, but true because the same Sun melts butter, but hardens clay…sairam; samastha lokha sukhino bhavanthu; Aum shanthi shanthi shanthi:
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 11:32:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015