Giving leads to a shift in the being of both the giver and the receiver.
You can give in many ways. Out of obligation. Out of sympathy. In exchange for something. We typically expect something in return; at least the recipient to be grateful.
What can you give? When should you give? What can you expect in return?
Here is some wisdom from across the ages:
What can I give?
“What you are, give that;
what you have, give that,
and your gift will be perfect …
it is not by the quantity or the quality that it is measured:
it is by the sincerity of the giving and the absoluteness of the giving.”
– The Mother
“dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ dīyate ‘nupakāriṇe
deśhe kāle cha pātre cha tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛitam”
Charity given to a worthy person simply because it is right to give, without consideration of anything in return, at the proper time and in the proper place, is stated to be in the mode of goodness.”
– Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 17, Verse 20
What if I am unable to give money or any material thing?
“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions
but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring
to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand
as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst
when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?”
– Kahlil Gibran
When should I give?
“It is well to give when asked,
but it is better to give unasked,
through understanding;
And to the open-handed
the search for one who shall receive
is joy greater than giving.
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now,
that the season of giving may be yours
and not your inheritors’.
– Kahlil Gibran
Who should I give to?
“You often say,
I would give, but only to the deserving.
The trees in your orchard say not so,
nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live,
for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights,
is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life
deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be,
than that which lies in the courage and the confidence,
nay the charity, of receiving?
– Kahlil Gibran
What do I get by giving?
“There are those who give little of the much which they have
and they give it for recognition
and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life,
and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy,
and that joy is their reward.
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride,
that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself
deserve to be a giver,
and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life
while you, who deem yourself a giver,
are but a witness.”
– Kahlil Gibran
Image: Photo by Ales Me on Unsplash
For further reading:
1) “Collected works of Mother“, Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Ramkumar R 