Real giving requires effort and sacrifice and helps individuals grow from self-centeredness to contribution, enriching both their lives and the lives of others. (Image: File)
One of the biggest hurdles in spiritual growth is the incapacity to give, even when there is a requirement to give. A miserly mind is a sign of stunted growth. They can’t help it. Giving is a way to grow out of the narrow shackling confines of your heart to the sunny smiling fields of liberation. Swami Dayananda said, “The culture of the Hindus is one of caring. Elders, animals, air, water, Earth, people, all these we care for… We grow by caring, from being only a consumer to being a contributor.” Some people sign a small cheque and donate the money when they have millions. No one can build a muscle without exertion. The picking up of a small book is not weightlifting. Your muscle will only build its capacity and strength when you lift something that you just cannot lift. So giving can be called giving only when it hurts to give. Giving doesn’t always mean money or precious objects. Giving your time is the biggest gift one can give, because when you gift time you are gifting a part of your life, as time is what life is made up of. Listening to someone in sorrow is giving, lending a helping hand to an elder is giving, appreciation, sympathy, affection, even making someone smile is giving. Praying for someone in physical or mental distress is also giving. A caring doctor looks like a God. (Vidya Daan), knowledge is one of the biggest gifts, therefore, the teachers of this world are so venerated. Manufacturers and farmers are big givers, your life depends on them. Can one thank a soldier enough for guarding you and your hearth with his life? Think. “What am I contributing to the earth and the people who nourish me? How am I enriching the lives of those I live with?”
Prarthna Saran, President, Chinmaya Mission, Delhi.
