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Wow. Just, wow.
federica
Seeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
The sub-title of this sub-forum is What does being a Buddhist mean in your part of the modern world?
Well, this tells me I'm nowhere near to where I'd hope to be one day.
http://www.matthieuricard.org/en/blog/posts/meeting-an-ordinary-saint
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Comments
This is striking: "The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
Wonderful! I always wonder what "serving" truly means. I know so many people who are very generous of themselves, their time, etc but they don't consider it serving because they aren't at a homeless shelter spooning soup. I think we know in our hearts, at our deepest levels, whether we are truly serving or just fulfilling our egos. Most of us, myself included, tend to help when and how it's most comfortable. We give to gofundme accounts, we send cards, we donate to charities. But how many people, like the man in the article, really get in the trenches? How many step outside of their comfort zone? I don't, not very often. I don't have a lot of opportunity where I live because our population is so small. We do not have homeless people here. It's hard to know how to be of the most service. I watch for the small opportunities (or big ones but they are rare) and I can tell a difference in myself where it is coming from - ego or heart. I could do so, so much more, but it would involve changing a lot of things, being uncomfortable (mentally, emotionally).
It's interesting to think about. I was just writing this morning about our own self-trust and how it plays into whether we trust others and they trust us. That when we visit our most inner worlds via meditation, yoga, nature or whatever, we learn to love and trust ourselves and when we can operate from there, we have more to offer. It seems a deep level of commitment to service requires a lot of self-trust - to know you are doing the right thing no matter what society thinks, no matter what someone else says. You just do it. It seems obvious and easy, but most of us (myself included) to the minimum of what is easy and comfortable, and for most of us that means giving up our coffee money to a donated cause. Not that it doesn't make a difference, but is it really service? Just thinking aloud, mostly for myself,
Beautiful and touching story.
Abandon all hope.
Think of it as a service to our real nature ...
Imagine you serve in a shop or are an active moderator for a bunch of un-saints. That is a service. Maybe we need more none or nun saints?
Most of all don't compete with Zen women, ordinary kindness, dogs, expectations of
Pali or Popey canonisation or empty behavour modification.
http://www.zenwomen.com
This message approved by Her Holiness CS Lobster
... and now back to being ordinary ...
We haz the plan ...
It could be that our self-ish possessive nature is what prevents us from achieving this goal...
It's easy to find excuses not to do things that we know we should be doing...
Old habits die hard....However....
The Dharma helps one to change the way one looks at things and in doing so the things one looks at change and according to neuroscience, one's neuropathways rearrange
Yes.
We all have a different propensity for genuine service. It is important to demonstrate and illustrate those individuals who embody service and leave ourselves out of the equation. One of the great achievements of becoming responsible for our little space of giving is how much it fulfils our genuine being ...
I'll join.
https://www.thebalance.com/unexpected-benefits-of-volunteering-4132453
Are you deliberately trying to make me cry @federica ?
The other day my son's kindergarten teacher told us a story.
A father dropped his son off there for his first day and the little boy was a bit upset.
The father went back to his car and parked it outside the fence to the kinder.
He preceded to play an acoustic guitar for the full three hours while his son was in the kinder.....the boy ran around happily.
People can be so beautiful - it makes me cry.
Service is different things to different people. Never underestimate the effect even the smallest deed has on the recipient. There are people here in this sangha who do it a great service @federica @karasti
Ditto, ditto, ditto!
I don't think I mean to be presumptuous here but I have a feeling you've helped more than you know.
Thank you. That brings tears to my eyes and fuels my purpose.
With much gratitude.
Prime example of cherishing others over one's self. Ironically the only way to become happy is to stop focusing on your own happiness and start focusing on the happiness of others. This guy generates even more happiness than that he bestows upon these unfortunate folk.
It would seem that it's a case of ...The Buddha Dharma helps those who help themselves by helping others to help themselves...Kinda like...
Working with a genuine desire to help others (be it volunteering or paid) has beneficial side effects....It's a win win situation ...
Volunteering and its Surprising Benefits
The interesting thing is it really doesn't matter whether one is in paid work, volunteering or just day to day interactions... the fact that one commits oneself to helping others goes a long way in helping to improve ones own brain chemistry ....( I guess doing it with a smile also helps)
WARNING !!! DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK (Side effects are ...Developing a Cheshire cat grin and warm and fuzzy feelings... If they persist DON"T see the doctor
)
The interesting point is that in selflessly helping others, there is no sacrafice, only gain.
Beautiful link. I too fall far short.
Of course, service doesn't have to be so dramatic or even so obvious. Having observed my Lama for over 18 years, I have come to see that service arises from a calm, alert mind that is not self-directed, but is compassionate and mindful of surroundings. And is translated into action that is immediate and helpful whenever a need is perceived.
I like this poem ... to me, it epitomizes the heart of compassion. It is not a Buddhist poem, but Buddhism doesn't have a monopoly on spirituality or compassion:
BIRDFOOT'S GRAMPA
The old man must have stopped our car
two dozen times to climb out
and gather into his hands the small toads blinded
by our lights and leaping, live drops of rain.
The rain was falling, a mist about his white hair
and I kept saying you can't save them all
accept it, get back in we've got places to go.
But, leathery hands full of wet brown life
knee deep in the summer roadside grass
he just smiled and said they have places to go too.
from “Entering Onandaga” by Joseph Bruch (Cold Mountain Press)
As a parent (as many of us are), don't play down the service we have provided to our children over the years.....the merit created cannot be denied!
Softening and hardening. We might say pliable.
Gratitude iz part of plan ...
Those fueled may cry without dukkha ... in other words, there is good or voluntary suffering ... for the sake of the family/universal sangha ...
Ay caramba! ?