Re Kiran's Question about cultivating "generosity"

[Guest guest]

Kiran,

You've asked a very simple, yet profound question for all of us

who seek a deeper, wholistic, spiritual way of life. I invite all

of our brothers and sisters in this email group to join Kiran in this

quest and share your insights on this, because we all have, everyday,

so many opportunities in performing our seva or karma yoga to look

deeply at our motivitations for our "giving" behavior, and to know when

we are truly giving with no selfish agenda, no investment in the

results of our actions, and no expectation of something in return.

This lifetime has certainly blessed me with soooo many

opportunities to understand "selfless service". Many of you know that

I come from a family of 14 children, and was the eldest daughter in

that family with 20 years of serving and being served by them. Then

life furthered this journey with 23 years of service as a social

worker. One day at the ashram while studying the Gita and cleaning the

kitchen, a light came on for me, an awakening that showed me all of the

reasons why I served: some were pure, some were not! I discovered

that I did then, and do now still have a lot of work to do to purify

my desire to serve. My answer here is to look inside, and also to draw

inspiration from saints like Shree Maa, Mother Theresa, Saint Valentine

and others who are such beams of light in this area. In closing I want

to share a little paragraph from the Peace Pilgrim, who had an

awakening something like mine, and shares it so succinctly:

"As I looked about the world, so much of it impoverished, I became

increasingly uncomfortable about having so much while my brothers and

sisters were starving. Finally I had to find another way. The turning

point came when, in desperation and out of a very deep seeking for a

meaningful way of life, I walked all one night through the woods. I

came to a moonlit glade and prayed.

I felt a complete willingness, without any reservation, to give my

life -- to dedicate my life--to service. "Please use me!" I prayed to

God. And a great peace came over me.

I tell you it's a point of no return. After that, you can never

go back to completely self-centered living.

And so I went into the second phase of my life. I began to live

to "give" what I could, instead of to get what I could, and I entered a

new and wonderful world."

And so Kiran and all, a new motto from the Peace Pilgrim: Live to

Give! And let's have fun while doing it! Kamala