The art of giving

We live in a world where competition and material accumulation are high values and skill in those is taught and much sought after. Children start competing in one thing or another from the earliest school years with high psychological (and sometimes not only) stakes for them and the parents. Parents who are better off can support their children to train more and in a larger number of competitive fields than parents with less resources, which many times becomes a source of pride for some and sadness for others. Once adulthood comes along, the competitive stakes become much higher: money, glory, access to power, preferential relationships, etc, etc. Of course there are still aspects and moments when human sharing and solidarity continue to manifest, but they have become fewer and fewer as decades and centuries went by. In other words, we have become less and less adepts at the art of giving.

Mark Twain has a short essay where he describes the exceptional ceremonies of entry into Heaven of a completely unknown man, when figures famous for what appeared as very good and virtuous lives were given much less importance. When asking about the reason for that, a visitor to Heaven is simply told that the man had led a righteous but completely unremarkable life on the surface all the while expressing great compassion and charity in complete secrecy. Of course, his is just a humorous rendition of an ideal human archetype found through all the great spiritual and philosophical writings from all over the world. And the reason for the universality of it is that our true joy fully depends on it. When we give with full heart, be it something material or our time, affection and care, we experience the greatest and longest lasting joy. Once we experience it a few times, we can barely wait for the privilege of giving for the only sake of that joy and no other binding or reward at all. What’s more, the ripples of that giving often end up coming back through the deeds and affection of others.

In our subtle system the power manifesting in the art of giving resides in our Nabhi Chakra, the third chakra that is found at the level of the navel. When the Kundalini touches, purifies, enlightens and activates it, we start shifting our focus from competition and accumulation to sharing and enjoying. We can move beyond the all-pervasive dry transactional rationality to a spontaneous existence where we pursue natural joys in a clean and balanced way. It is also easy to see how, at collective level. this can be a significant part of the solutions to a majority of our most pressing social, environmental and even economical issues. That is why the art of giving has been given an important place in the building of an evolved being and is something to really look forward to manifesting after Self Realization.