When is giving taking?

[Peter Davies]

A newspaper article yesterday caught my eye. It was about a family who are planning for the next year, as an art project, to anonymously leave gifts for those they felt were in need.Reminds me of Acts of Random Kindness, which was a fad for a while and now you rarely hear of the organization. The problem I have with both is that they appear to be "projects" where the focus is on the means rather than an end. One part of me is thinking that regardless of the initial motivation if those in need are helped it's a good thing. Another part of me thinks that individuals who engage in these events are caught up in their own pleasure and fun and no real caring exists for the recipient. For me anonymous giving is a very humble act with no reward or acknowledgement being sought. Giving in the name of a cause and which gets media publicity appears to reflect joy and narcissism of the giver - it's all about him/her and again the recipient is forgotten. For me compassionate giving is all about the relationship between the giver and recipient, anonymous or otherwise. The joy and peace is in the act of giving. Both play an equally important role in the giving. Do we really need gimmicks to get ourselves motivated to give with compassion? Unfortunately in today's society the answer appears to be yes. But giving from the heart demands a lifelong awareness of our need to help others, not a little hobby to follow until something else interesting comes along.

[Katrien Sercu]

Your title took my attention Peter: recognizable. Sorry, but i'm not interested in this 'gimmicks', so i let this for what it is; i don't want to lose energy in that. I just want to reply on one sentence of your post:'giving from the heart demands a lifelong awareness of our need to help others'. What is our motivation to give or to help others? Are we driven by own needs in giving or are we open to other-power by giving in joy...or both together? As long as i think that i have to be good or i need to be good, then i give by self-power, to become a good person: a taking giving. From the moment, or in the moments that other-power takes me and i help in this flow, then i just give and i get joy and love from it: a more pure giving. In Western culture we grow up and get educated to taking giving, i guess. And yes, this asks a lot of awareness to our need to help: is it selfish or not...a worrying activity, what is again selfish. In Amida Buddhism i learned that it is possible in an other way: an other-centered approach. This gives so much joy and no worrying! Just act in giving and accept our imperfect nature in that. I just like to share this in bad and wrong english, because i went a long way in that matter and i'm happy that i find an other way, more pure and joyful and less fatiguing. Nothing news...but wunderful!