On giving selflessly – Importance of Sacrifice.

It is the quality of Nature to continually give selflessly, i.e., without expecting to receive anything in return. Everything in Nature takes only what is necessary, but gives back significantly more. For instance, a tomato plant takes only about a cup of water and minerals from the soil everyday, but gives back many tomatoes in return.

All of Creation, including all non-living things, is in a constant state of giving. Almost all of us have experienced the gift of giving. However, we may not have given much thought to the spiritual significance of giving selflessly.

What is the Spiritual principle behind Giving?

As shown in the picture below, spiritual progress is essentially about the dissolution of ‘I’ness (i.e., the five senses, mind and intellect), which is our (ego), and merging with God. In order to merge with The Creator, it is essential to imbibe His divine quality of giving unconditionally.

Giving away one’s belongings and likings that pertain to one’s mind, body and intellect are important in reducing one’s attachment to them. As we ‘Give’, we also create a space within us to ‘Receive’.

Some ways of practicing this are selflessly giving one’s love, sharing one’s knowledge, etc., The sacrifice of one’s wealth is often misunderstood so let us take a closer look at giving of ourselves through the sacrifice of a portion of our wealth.

Who should we give to?

Giving of our wealth should always be a 'donation to the deserving', that is to 'the one who is worthy of it'. In this world, none are more worthy than Saints. Saints and Gurus are the manifest forms of the unseen God and do only His will. Hence, any offering made to Saints and Gurus is as good as an offering it to God Himself.

If we donate to a worldly cause, such as a charity, the universal law of give-and-take comes into effect. The well-known saying “what ever goes around comes around” best summarizes this law.

So, if we do good deeds for others we will certainly reap the benefits or merits in this lifetime or in other lifetimes. However, this also creates give-and-take accounts that keep us entangled in the cycles of birth and death. A person’s real aim is to merge with the Creator and not attain merits. Therefore, the offering should be made only to the Guru or to the mission related to the Absolute Truth.

The picture above shows us that by offering back to God or the Guru what He has bestowed upon us, does not create a give-and-take account, but instead completes it, and also uplifts us spiritually.

What should our attitude be when offering our wealth?

From the above discussion, we can see that 'I'-ness or ego creates give-and-take accounts, and ultimately, our bondage in the cycles of life and death or happiness and unhappiness.

To ensure spiritual benefit when offering our wealth, we should try to keep the following points in mind. If we do not, then we will not reap the spiritual benefits of giving:

• Without ego and with humility - It should be done without any ‘I’-ness that “’I’ am the one offering this.” When offering wealth as service unto the Truth, the attitude should be one of humility. If the person offering wealth harbors the ego that it is he who is helping others or that the spiritual cause needs his help, then the offering will not count as spiritual practice. God is omnipotent and omnipresent. He does not need anyone's help in taking care of His children or Creation since everyone and everything is already His. The person offering his wealth is the one who benefits most from the unconditional offering.
  
  As the revered Saint Swami Vivekananda has said,
  
  “Please do not give alms to a beggar if you feel you are doing him a favor. The Lord is capable of protecting and nurturing His children even in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. One benefits oneself by helping a beggar. It is the beggar who does us a favor.”
• No expectation - There should not be any expectations of receiving anything in return.
• Detachment - One should have the attitude of detachment from the wealth offered. We should not think about what will be done with the money we have given as an offering. This will be clear from the following incident:
  
  A businessman offered a bundle of money to H. H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj (Baba) while He was bathing in a river. Baba angrily said, "Is this the time and place to make an offering?" and threw the money in the river. The businessman wondered why Baba had thrown so much money into the river. Then Baba told the businessman, "Once you have given the offering, do not think what will be done with that money."