Give and You Shall Receive.

I'm on a writing spree here. HaHa..

I believe in "Give and You Shall Receive". But sometimes, it's really difficult. Life makes one cynical. There are beggers on the street and calls for donations everywhere. Do you give to every single one? Of course one can give by volunteering etc as well...

I don't know. Sometimes i'm conflicted.

I was reading an article from Buddhadharma.

From “Give and You Shall Receive” by Reginald A. Ray. Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, Spring 2005.

"The practice of giving, then, is a deeply reciprocal practice with lay devotee and renunciant each giving what is within their means to give. Each offers not only what one has but, in the Asian understanding, as scholars such as Paul Mus and Louis Dumont have shown, what one is. The potential intimacy of this kind of reciprocity need not be doubted."

This following paragraph is so so true.

"The human ego is largely defined and maintained by our personal possessions, that which we consider “ours.” These are not only material possessions but also our abilities and even what we think. In the practice of giving, we offer up our wealth in the form of food, money or other material items, or non-material items such as expressions of devotion, praise or spiritual aspirations. When we do so, we are giving away parts of ourselves. In fact, in the moment of giving it may feel as if we are offering up our very “self.” This is why we resist giving to others, why the act of giving itself can be so painful, and also why it can be so liberating."

I cancelled out this part because the top paragraph can refer to anybody but i think the next one is more religion based - so if you wanna read, it's there, but if not - ignore it.

"This giving away of “self” is precisely how we establish an authentic connection with the object of our devotion. Once we have offered up ourselves and our very being, we are temporarily in a state of openness, free from grasping and fixation. Then we can truly hear and incorporate the message of selflessness and liberation." 

Some quotes to leave you with:

Wayne Dyer: "It's a universal law- we have to give before we get. We must plant the seeds before we reap the harvest. The more we sow, the more we reap. And in giving to others, we find ourselves blessed."

Ralph Waldo Emerson: "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

Lao Tsu: "He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much."

Buddha: "Giving brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous. We experience joy in the actual act of giving something, experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given."  - Very Very True

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

Some of these issues i hold dear to my heart and believe in them much. We may not be perfect - but we try - because these are what i form my personal principles upon.

I think next i'll tell you guys a little about the law of attraction. Which Eddie Neo so totally did not understand.

All these issues are fun and interested and enlightening. Of course there are official websites etc that you can read it on, but i thought - this is just my way of passing it on to people who might not have known about them. =)

Live and Let Live.