Becoming Givers, Not Getters

“For it is in giving that we receive.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi, peace prayer

“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” …
“For in truth it is life that gives unto life –
while you, who deem yourself a giver,
is but a witness.”
~ Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

“You can give without loving,
but you can never love without giving.”
~ Robert Louis Stevenson and/or
~ Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“The value of a man resides in what he gives,
and not in what he is capable of receiving.”

~ Albert Einstein

“The wise man does not lay up his own treasures.
The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.”

~ Lao Tzu

“Life is for giving and forgiving,
not getting and forgetting.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra sayings

Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas

Dear Friends,

Since meeting my beloved Guruji, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, l’ve been learning from life that we can bless the world by becoming givers, not getters.

Soon after my shakipat initiation, I attended a group meditation program wherein Guruji entertained and answered audience questions.  His simple response to one of those questions has had lasting impact for me.

A skeptical newcomer asked Guruji:  “What are you getting from what you are doing?”

Guruji responded succinctly and inspirationally: “Gurus are givers, not getters.” 

After gratefully reflecting on Guruji’s saintly motivation, I’ve realized that we  don’t have to become gurus to be givers; that we can all be givers, not getters, by lovingly helping – and not harming – others.

From long life experience I’ve seen that we all can help others, each in our own unique way from our unique perspectives. 

Most people I’ve met are ordinary people (in many different life roles), who are naturally, generous, kind and compassionate, and who are instinctively motivated to be helpful in their relationships with others, even though they live in a materialist society which has become polluted by greed and selfishness.  

As William Shakespeare reminded us, all the world’s a stage on which we each play different roles in an endless cosmic melodrama.  Whatever our roles, we can bless the world by lovingly giving and forgiving, rather than selfishly getting and forgetting.

We are all connected and everything we think do or say changes this world in some way.  So we don’t have to be materially or money rich to bless the world.

For more than forty years I have been daily reciting the peace prayer attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, which reminds us that “It is in giving, that we receive” , and I’ve observed the fundamental truth of that declaration.

So I write today as a heartfelt reminder that each us in our own unique way can help bless the world by giving our loving and respectful kindness to all sentient beings and to our beautiful blue planet.

May we together harmoniously co-create and bless the world as Love by being givers, not getters, and thus by helping, not hurting, everyone everywhere. 

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner