Burst Forty Six (For Youth):
Fulfillment In Serving Others
It is in giving that we receive, observed Saint Francis of Assisi. The mystics of different traditions of the world found out hidden truths of life that can bless us with great peace and fulfillment. An old Sanskrit verse goes –
Trees bear fruit for others’ sake!
Rivers flow serving all creation!
Cows give milk for others’ sake!
This body is meant for serving others!3
It is an open secret of spirituality that we derive peace by giving and we live in fear when we keep to ourselves.All of us begin with acquiring and hoarding, increasing our personal possessions. We do this in search of security. The ‘I, me and my’ is soon seen to be a thorn in the flesh! Then we awake to the spiritual truth—“Renounce and rejoice!”
This does not mean that we could be careless in handling money, time or other resources.Fools rush inwhere angels fear to tread. We should give in generosity and not our of recklessness.The strong and wise alone can sustain true generosity.Others lead themselves to more trouble or misery when they try to serve!
We can never give to others what we do not have! We need to material wealth, and more importantly, spiritual wealth in order to give and serve! The latter is the bedrock of service.
One has learnt the art of divine living when one is able to give freely of oneself to others and yet is at peace with oneself.Apparently one is becoming zero by giving; really one emerging as a hero! In our false fears, we imagine we shall be reduced to nothing if we are generous, in reality, we experience infinity when we strike the chord of harmony with fellow beings!
How much should we give and how far should we go in serving people? A saint said, “Give till it hurts you”. That could inspire us to loosen our attachments and be free of false fears. However, as said before, true wisdom is never oppose to common sense or discretion. Certain scriptures in fact caution us and urge us to give to the truly deserving, at the right time and at the right place (See Geetha 17:20)
Giving food to the starving is a great gift; greater is the gift of knowledge.The former brings satisfaction for a moment, while the latter can give to the recipient (through self-reliance) happiness for all her life. We find thus that there are different kinds of giving. yes” To reach out to a friend or colleague in distress and ease her burden is, spiritually speaking, a gift we give to ourselves. Even listening with empathy can go a long way to make the other person feel better.
Let us give; let us serve; let us share! Let us strengthen each other with what each of us has!
Swami Chidananda
Tuesday, August 22, 2006