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Finding more opportunities for generosity in daily life
FleaMarket
Veteran
There are only a few immediately obvious ways to be generous in my daily life but I want to discover more.
Some immediate recollections of things that have given me feel-goods...
Donating stuff I don't use any more
Nurturing some plant life
Greeting my neighbors warmly
Absorbing shock waves of family gatherings
Forgiving myself for my mistakes
Any others?
5
Comments
Wow, so many. This is what we do and it doesn't really cost that much. We sponsor a young boy from Cambodia. We go through the Canada site but here is the international one.
Just in case you're interested.
https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/our-work/quality-care/alternative-care/family-care-for-every-child/sos-families
If we aren't allowed to post stuff like that here, I am sorry. Best call attention to it just in case @Federica
Putting out bird feeders in the garden
Taking crumbs and old bread to throw at the ducks
…
I’m sure there are lots of others.
Freeing ourselves from always responding to the phenomena around us in a particular way, so that any generosity that we foster might also be tempered with the skillful means to not inadvertently become the cause of another's suffering.
Dana ...
24/7/365 I like all living things (Mother Nature's children) am in the habit of giving and taking...
In fact with every breath I take I give back...
Giving some of one's free time, by volunteering in some worthwhile 'not for profit' organization...
Giving of one’s free time is also something you can do in other ways. When i learnt my uncle Henk was interested in buddhism I started a dialogue with him, we had many good days discussing the teachings of Ajahn Chah, Thich Nhat Hanh and others.
Giving other people a little more dhamma can be a beautiful thing.
It is time for some hardcore plogging @FleaMarket !!!
When working or interacting with others try to put the group's or the goal's interest ahead of your own. Like be willing to help others with their portion of a task or sacrifice some of your own time or resources to contribute to the larger aim.
There's a lojong phrase in TB (at least I think its lojong), "When others, out of envy, treat me wrongly with scolding, insults, and more, may I accept the loss upon myself and offer the victory to others." I do contract work and sometimes a job I bid ends up being more work than I thought and sometimes less. I usually try to adopt this sort of attitude, and its somewhat ingrained at this point, where if I come out ahead I'll offer a discount in payment and if I come out behind I'll eat the cost. Or if extras come up, don't nitpick each one, offer them as a gift.
Let me just say regarding this training that its important to come at it from a stance of strength so it doesn't become draining or abusive. So in practice you could ask for more or accept your gain, but out of a generous spirit you offer this practice to others, its the difference between being generous and kind and being a doormat others can take advantage of.
So you often end up being generous to people. It deserves to be acknowledged, and I’m not sure it always is. That kind of generosity is rare in the contracting world, more often people take as much as they can get away with. I hope it gets you a lot of repeat customers.