The Urge to Give
Saturday January 29 2005 08:04 IST
By Karmayogi
The urge to give is
spiritual. It is overpowering. When it takes possession of someone, it is
impossible to wait, not a question of restraining.
The opposite, the urge not to give or the urge to take is equally powerful.
That too is a spiritual vibration in the reverse. It is in the physical body,
whereas the urge to give is seated in the Spirit and partly in the Mind.
In a sale of property such things are evident. The seller wants the highest
price. The buyer wants the lowest one. It will be best for both if they have
the reverse urges – the seller desiring the lowest price and the buyer wishing
the highest price.
Unfortunately, we do not come across such events in life, but it does not mean
they are non-existent. Occasionally in the negotiation for an alliance, the
bridegroom's party senses that the other is hard-pressed. Suddenly they
change their tone and ask for less, to relieve the burden of the other side. It
is a glorious moment.
A boy and his mother from Bombay visiting a remote village in search of
a bride discovered that due to difficult financial conditions, the family was
offering the second daughter, while the elder was unmarried. The groom and the
mother, in a quick conference of glances exchanged, called the elder girl and
agreed to marry her without dowry.
They went a step further to offer to marry the second girl to his younger
brother. It is a moment of human Glory. Often scarcity of qualified people
arises in many trades. At such times, candidates of all descriptions are
accepted without scrutiny. Employers go to any length to secure the needed
candidate.
A gift of one year's salary is often offered as an incentive. When a
candidate appeared before a management and was offered one year's pay, he
felt it was not right for him to take advantage of their distress. He joined
the job and declined the incentive.
Just after two full years, the candidate's income grew to the level of a
year's pay. That is how life rewards or reacts. The word for tough
bargaining in Tamil is giraki untranslatable in English. Perhaps such a
behaviour is less in the culture of the English. That could be the reason for
not finding the appropriate word.
Spiritually, both – giving and taking – are equally good. Socially, we praise
one and blame the other. It is up to one's culture to fix values. Looking
at it closely, the joy of giving is equalled by the joy of taking. One may have
both attitudes in different relationships.
Human mind ascribes values. Outside human social relationships, there are no
values. Only the vibration is there. Whatever one is in practice, a spiritual
understanding of events at one's background enables him to grow in time.