The idea of giving and receiving really does not need to know any season. However, the first inescapbale fact is that the ‘holiday season’ which dawns upon us in different parts of the world tends to shift our focus to giving and receiving, and many other nuances that are connected with them. The second fact is that many of us find it much, much easier to give than to receive. I have many past #SpiritChat transcripts as lasting proof of this fact. A related fact, which is connected to the first two, is that we associate kindness, kind-heartedness, and spiritual expansion with giving to others, and the scales are heavily weighted against receiving.
But the fact of the matter is that, in most cases, we have been inadvertently receiving more than we have been giving, for most of our lives. Once we cast the nets of our senses and our minds a bit wider than our immediate surroundings, we will know this to be true. From the moment we started growing in our mother’s wombs, we became receivers of nourishment. And when we leave our physical frame and transition to the next phase, we will be receivers of the grace of those who will facilitate that transition for us. It is in the interim, when our awareness grows in the fact that most of our immediate needs have been met, that we find ourselves in a position to “give”, and perhaps even ‘help’ others with our giving.
In higher awareness, the seed-idea of ‘giving is good’ finds root in our heartspace. Once we make ‘giving’ a regular practice – whether it be giving of material things, giving of our time and attention, giving of a genuine smile, buying that cup of coffee for that stranger in the car behind us at the drive through window – we find joy and fulfillment in giving. We find a little bit of enhanced purpose, even if it be for a brief fleeting moment, when we realize that we have made someone’s day a little bit better. We add one more thread to the fabric of our life and theirs, when we practice giving. The open circle of receiving wraps its arms around itself with the open circle of giving, and we find ourselves in an infinite loop of privilege…
Why privilege? Consider the obvious. If there were no receiver, the giver and their giving would be bereft of joy, purpose, and the sense of sharing. So, yes, it is indeed the giver who is privileged that the receiver actually exists. As Vivekananda has pointed out in one of his essays, “it is the privilege of the servers that they are able to serve…” – so, the givers should be grateful, and give thanks that they can share of what they have received. One corollary is that the receiver ought to partake of the joy of the giver, and give the giver the opportunity to exercise their spiritual need to experience their infinite nature in the act of giving…
For those of us who have children or are around children, we may be familiar with the joy that we get from giving them the best of everything that is possible. For those of us who have grandchildren, I am told that this joy is multiplied many fold. So, as children of That divine, let us make our list, check it twice, and rejoice in receiving the best from the greatest giver of all. In that giving and receiving, we have the priviliege and the opportunity to find the infinite expression of our spiritual nature…
My sincere thanks to you, for reading and receiving ~ I invite you to give back with your thoughts ~ Join us Sunday, November 29th 2015 at 9amET on twitter, as we disccus Giving and Privilege.
Namaste,
Kumud
