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The World Could Be Otherwise
"Things are not separate from one another. Everything is flow, everything is complete. Since no one owns anything, there is no giver or receiver. Life circulates as a gift. 'Things go round again go round,' as Wallace Stevens writes in his great poem, 'The Pleasures of Merely Circulating.' Our very bodies come and go, their molecules mixing with air, food, and water, and eventually dissolving into soil and air as they circulate into other beings. So the perfection of generosity is a joyful practice. Giving is simple. Its manifestations are myriad. One of my teachers once instructed me to practice giving in airport restrooms (I am in airports a lot) by wiping down sink counters when I am done washing my hands -- to do this for future sink users and for the sink itself. Even inanimate objects deserve our generosity and are likely to be generous in return.
"The counter-wiping practice can be done everywhere. Why not wipe counters in your own bathroom or kitchen as the practice of generosity? Do it beautifully and joyfully. For yourself, for others in your household, for the counters. You could wipe your counters as an offering to people far away who have no counters. When the perfection of generosity is appreciated as the limitless imaginative practice that it is, almost anything can be a vehicle for it."
Norman Fischer on how counter-wiping can be a practice of generosity to others and even to the counter.
Just Grab The Dust Rag
"A beautiful, ancient part of Zen practice is takahatsu. This is the time when monks put on straw sandals, wear straw hats with large brims, form a line and go on foot, one behind the other, down into the villages with their begging bowls. The villagers can hear the monks coming from a distance as they chant 'Ho, ho, ho' over and over again.
"When the villagers hear the chanting, they know the monks are coming to receive offerings. The monks never ask directly. They simply stand with their begging bowls chanting. When a villager comes to make an offering, the monk and villager bow to one another at the same time. Due to the large straw hat the monk is wearing, he cannot see who is making the offering, nor can the person see the face of the monk. The giving and receiving are done anonymously. The giver does not become inflated, thinking how wonderful it is that he gives. The one who receives is not shamed, feeling he is needy. The monk is giving the villager the gift of having an opportunity to share. The villager is providing sustenance for the monk who chants, meditates and cares for him. There is no separation; in this moment, the giver and receiver become one. Indeed, if we go a little deeper, we can even ask, what is it that really belongs to us? What is the true gift being given?
"As I watched the monks wind their way down the hill, I knew that I'd received a gift that went beyond anything I was deserving of. And I knew the deeper question was, how would I ever repay it? What could I give back in return?"
"Touching one another
Each becomes
A pebble of the world. "
— Soen Roshi
Brenda Shoshanna on a practice that teaches how a giver and a receiver become one.
Ceremonies for Change
Charitable Giveaways
"Is there something you're symbolically releasing when you donate your clothes or personal items to a charitable organization? As you place the item in the collection box, think about what you are releasing and what you are affirming with that action. Make it significant to your mind.
"A woman donated a hat that was too small for her head. She affirmed that she was releasing ideas that limited her intellectual and spiritual growth. A friend pinned a note on her deceased mother's coat before she donated it, wishing the new owner warmth and love, and signed it with her mother's name."
Lynda S. Paladin on symbolically releasing something when you give things away.
The Healing Power of Kindness
"People all over the world are hungry for peace of mind, for finding solutions to their problems, for finding ways to improve their relationships with others, and for finding meaningful ways of life. A loving and generous kindness can certainly make a difference. Kindness, a precious God-given gift to us, is one of the sweet expressions of love.
"Giving, not because we have to, but for the sheer sake of giving, just out of love, is something really beautiful — out of this world! This kind of gratuitous goodness — a lavish kindness — makes our world a better place in which to live, and makes us better people.
"Everyone benefits from kindness. We are so deeply touched by it that we are transformed. In the holy of holies of our being, we feel connected, centered, involved, engaged, and deeply bonded to others, regardless of our divisions due to ideology, religion, race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, economic status, or other factors. After all, we are all made of flesh, bones, and blood. We belong to one human family. We all have the same basic needs. We are one. We are whole. We are human together. We are in the same boat of destiny.
"We cannot be but kind together and to each other. This is written in our very nature and clearly stated in our Scripture. 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.' (Lk 10:27) Love is the foundation of our very survival.
"Kindness means empathy, true intimacy, encouragement, admiration, service, understanding, genuineness, concern, truth, trust, and all that makes us true images of God. The earnest desire to conform ourselves to the image of God and to Jesus Christ will make bitterness, cunningness, and lies disappear. The very attempt to be like Jesus and to see Jesus in every person we meet is already a source of sweetness that flows from our very being to all those who come our way. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: 'Be the living expression of God's kindness — kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.'"
Jean Maalouf on the benefits of practicing kindness in everyday living.
Answers from the Heart
"By living your life, by producing works of art, you contribute to the work of the collective awakening of our people. A bodhisattva is someone who is awake, mindful, and motivated by a desire to help others to wake up. The artist, the actor, the filmmaker, the novelist may be inspired by a desire to become a bodhisattva, helping with the awakening of the people, helping them to touch the seed of joy, of peace, of happiness in themselves, helping them to remove and transform the seeds of discrimination and fear and craving. The artist can do all this. If you are motivated by that desire, you will have so much joy and energy that fame and power will not appeal to you anymore. Nothing can be compared with that kind of joy, knowing that your life on Earth is beautiful and is helpful.
"One day in New York City I met a Buddhist scholar and I told her about my practice of mindfulness in the vegetable garden. I enjoy growing lettuce, tomatoes, and other vegetables and I like to spend time gardening every day. She said, 'You shouldn't spend your time growing vegetables. You should spend more time writing poems. Your poems are so beautiful. Everyone can grow lettuce, but not everyone can write poems like you do.' I told her, 'If I don't grow lettuce, I can't write poems.'
"When I'm taking care of the lettuce or watering my garden I don't think of poetry or writing. I focus my mind entirely on taking care of the lettuce, watering the vegetables and so on. I enjoy every moment and I do it in a mode of 'non-thinking.' It's very helpful to stop the thinking. Your art is conceived in the depths of your consciousness while you're not thinking about it. The moment when you express it is only a moment of birth, the moment you deliver the baby. For me, there must be moments when you allow the child inside you to grow, so you can do your best and your masterpiece can contain insight, understanding, and compassion.
"A work of art can help people understand the nature of their suffering and have insight into how to transform the negative and to develop the positive in themselves. Writing, making a film, creating a work of art can be an act of love. That act of love nourishes you and nourishes others. If you're happy, if you know how to live deeply every moment of your life, then deep understanding, joy, and compassion can come. Your art will reflect this understanding and will share it with others."
Thich Nhat Hanh on why nothing can be compared with the joy you feel when you know your life on earth is beautiful and helpful.
Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs
The Water Pot and the Thief: A True Story of Rabiah Al Adawiya of Basra
"Famous for her saintly life, Rabiah of Basra owned nothing but a sleeping mat, a brick on which to rest her head, a Qur'an and a water pot. One night, a robber, unaware of whose house it was, slipped into Rabiah's home. Looking around, he soon discovered . . . nothing — nothing at all to take.
"Just as the thief was turning to leave, Rabiah spoke up, 'lf you are indeed a robber, surely you cannot leave empty-handed.'
"Startled, the thief repIied, 'But there is nothing to steal!'
"Rabiah stood up and handed him her water pot. 'Take this water and ready yourself for prayer. Perform your wudu, your ablution, as the Prophet Muhammad has taught us.'
"The thief, looking confused, tentatively accepted the water pot. Rabiah pointed, 'Go into the side room there and pray. If you do this regularly, you will never be empty-handed or poor.'
"The robber did as he was told. When Rabiah heard him begin his prayers, she raised her gaze to heaven and entreated the Lord, 'Allah, a thief has entered my humble home and found nothing. Now that I have shown him the way to your mansion, do not keep him from it; do not bar him from your goodness and bounty.' She lay back down, the sound of his prayer soothing her back to sleep.
"The thief, having performed just two rounds of prayer, found to his surprise that it brought him immense joy. And so he continued.
"At sunrise, many hours later, Rabiah rose and walked into the side room. There she found the thief seated, reading from the Qur'an.
" 'And how was your night, my friend?' asked Rabiah.
" 'It went quite wonderfully,' he answered. 'I saw myself standing before God, and He accepted my repentance and forgave me.'
"Rabiah smiled, 'I believe you are now — and forever — a very rich man,' she said."
Saadi's story of a thief who discovers what it really mans to be a rich man.
Thrift
"John Wesley, the famous Anglican preacher (significantly influenced by Puritanism) who became the primary founder of the Methodist Church, was an almost exact contemporary of Benjamin Franklin. Wesley was born in 1703, three years before Franklin was born, and died in 1791, one year after Franklin died.
"Wesley's famous formulation — 'Gain all you can, Save all you can, then Give all you can' — is one of the most concise, important, and influential thrift sayings in the English language. Wesley's teachings on the uses of money also constitute one of the purest examples of what scholars would later call 'the Protestant ethic.' Moreover, while Franklin, as we'll see, largely secularized the philosophy of thrift, detaching it from much of its Christian theological context, Wesley most emphatically did not. Finally, Wesley's moving reflections on the core irony of thrift — religiously informed thrift produces affluence, which can produce worldliness and dissipation — are, for my money, much better than Max Weber's, and quite deserving of our consideration today."
John Wesley's Rules for the "Stewards" (or Administrators) of the Methodist Movement, 1748
"1. Be frugal. Save everything that can honestly be saved.
"2. Spend no more than you receive. Contract no debts.
"3. Have no long accounts. Pay everything within the week.
"4. Give none that asks for relief either an ill word or an ill look. Do not hurt them if you cannot help them."
The philosophy and advice of John Wesley, founder on Methodism, on good stewardship of money.
Ron Miller, Wisdom of the Carpenter
Give without payment what you received without payment. [Matthew 10:8]
We're socialized to a society in which everything and everyone has a price. We suffer from a plague of greed and ego-centeredness. The divine wisdom that invites us to a profound generosity totally subverts our "bottom line" mentality.
Divine wisdom invites us to a profound generosity
Return a Lost Object
Return a lost object to your brother. It is a mitzvah to return a lost object. It is said that our belongings contain a portion of ourselves. It is crucial to make sure that each person has the things that belong to him or her. If you see something that has been lost, make sure you return it as quickly as possible. You can even go further with this mitzvah when you take note of anything that may have been lost by another and try to return it, such as self-worth, hope, joy in life, and inspiration.
The crucial deed of making sure others have what belongs to them.
Defusing Anger
There may be times when you are angry with someone, and you try everything you can to transform your anger, but nothing seems to work. In this case, the Buddha proposes that you give the other person a present. It sounds childish, but it is very effective. When we're angry with someone we want to hurt them. Giving them a present changes that into wanting to make them happy. So, when you are angry with someone send him a present. After you have sent it, you will stop being angry with him. It's very simple, and it always works.
Opening your heart through giving a gift.