Life is For Giving
According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, "it is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without also helping himself."
With these words, one begins to wonder how to give meaning to our lives, and help ourselves. Some believe that we will be truly happy when we have learned how to be of service to others. Although I belive this to be the case, and that true giving is one of the highest forms of service, I think that we must also look at our motives when we give, be there for others, extend a hand. Is it to foster some self end for ourselves, such as giving to others to make us look good, or is it to truly be there for another human being, no matter what the end result, or whether it benefits us in some individual way or not? Is giving with 'strings attached' to our own bodies something that is alright to do? Must the motives and means of giving be meaningless, or is it in the results that count, or have no bearing on the acts themselves?
Last week, I asked this sort of question in relationship to volunteer work that one does, but it made me think about the nature and meaning of giving in one's own life. What is the meaning of giving, and how do you give of yourself to others?
Thank you for your minds.
With these words, one begins to wonder how to give meaning to our lives, and help ourselves. Some believe that we will be truly happy when we have learned how to be of service to others. Although I belive this to be the case, and that true giving is one of the highest forms of service, I think that we must also look at our motives when we give, be there for others, extend a hand. Is it to foster some self end for ourselves, such as giving to others to make us look good, or is it to truly be there for another human being, no matter what the end result, or whether it benefits us in some individual way or not? Is giving with 'strings attached' to our own bodies something that is alright to do? Must the motives and means of giving be meaningless, or is it in the results that count, or have no bearing on the acts themselves?
Last week, I asked this sort of question in relationship to volunteer work that one does, but it made me think about the nature and meaning of giving in one's own life. What is the meaning of giving, and how do you give of yourself to others?
Thank you for your minds.
2 Comments:
This is from My Grandfather's Blessings, by Rachel Naomi Remen:
"In the Mishna Torah, Maimonides, the great doctor rabbi, describes the eight levels of 'charity,' or ways of giving to others...
"At the eighth and most basic level of giving to others, a man begrudgingly buys a coat for a shivering man who has asked him for help, gives it to him in the presence of witnesses, and waits to be thanked.
"At the seventh level, a man does this same thing without waiting to be asked for help.
"At the sixth level, a man does this same thing openheartedly without waiting to be asked for help.
"At the fifth level, a man openheartedly gives a coat that he has bought to another but does so in private.
"At the fourth level, a man openheartedly and privately gives his own coat to another, rather than a coat that he has bought.
"At the third level, a man openheartedly gives his own coat to another who does not know who has given him this gift. But the man himself knows the person who is indebted to him.
"At the second level, he openheartedly gives his own coat to another and has no idea who has received it. But the man who receives it knows to whom he is indebted.
"And finally, on the first and purest level of giving to others, a man openheartedly gives his own coat away without knowing who will receive it, and he who receives it does not know who has given it to him. Then giving becomes a natural expression of the goodness in us, and we give as simply as flowers breathe out their perfume.
"At the time, it was very important to me to be good and to do things right, and I listened to this description very carefully. 'I will only do it the right way, Grandpa,' I assured him. He began to laugh. 'Ah, Neshume-le,' he said to me tenderly. 'Here we have a special sort of thing. Suppose we all gave to those around us as the first man does, begrudgingly offering a coat we have bought in the presence of witnesses to someone who has need and who asks us for help? If we all did this, would there be more suffering or less suffering in the world than there is now?'
"I thought for a long time, the need to do it right battling in me with the simplicity of my grandfather's question. 'Less suffering, Grandpa,' I said finally in some confusion. 'Ah yes,' he said, beaming, 'this is true. Some things have so much goodness in them that they are worth doing any way that you can.'"
I give my time away for a few reasons:
1. I feel better about myself when I do
2. To have something to do
3. To connect with people who have similar theories.
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