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.