Compassion, forgiveness, and giving, without looking for anything in return. . . this is the way of the Wise, this is the sign of an evolved soul.
There is no better place to practice egolessness than at home. This is why the Creator gave us families, so that we could practice compassion, forgiveness and giving, without looking for anything in return. When we do this, we are doing solid spiritual work; we are discovering what we are really made of. And what is that? That is Divine Love.
Compassion, forgiveness, and giving do NOT come from the mind or ego. These divine qualities are manifested only when we go beyond ourselves. So long as we are wanting something for ‘little me’, that long we remain unhappy, frustrated, aggravated and annoyed.
The most important work that we do is NOT our professional work, it is NOT our ‘body’ work (such as going to the gym), it is NOT our housework (or home improvement), it is our SOUL WORK (Homework): it is the work we do on our inner self which will take us to our Eternity. We need to improve our interactions with our family members, and we do this by practicing self-control. Each of us must control our own mind and ego: no one can do this work for us.
“Good work is its own reward.”
Dr. T. R. Khanna
There is nothing more rewarding than being in the state of egolessness. When there is no thought of small self, I, the mind is at peace. When we stop holding on to our small self, our mind becomes as big as the universe. But when we are small hearted, we feel the limitations of our little mind. Heart is the mind. One who is vast hearted is one whose mind is free of the obstructions of ego and images. To become vast hearted we have to become Wise.
Always, without fail, the one who is truly Wise will be compassionate, forgiving, and giving, without looking for anything in return. Let us make this our mantra for the day:
“Compassion, forgiveness, and giving, without looking for anything in return. . . . .
Compassion, forgiveness, and giving, without looking for anything in return. . . . .
Compassion, forgiveness, and giving, without looking for anything in return. . . “
OM
If you are doing such things in order to get divine love, are you not doing such things for a reward?
If you are doing good in order to make it to heaven or not go to hell, are you really doing good for yourself.
I believe in no such thing, yet I follow the golden rule. I treat others as I want to be treated, and I help my fellow man. I do this for no reward from anything spiritual because I believe no such thing exists.
So, I ask you.. Who is the better person (not that I truly think some one with faith is better or worse). The person doing these things to be loved by their God, the person that does it to stay out of Hell, or the person that does it with no expectation of any kind of reward of any kind.
“If you are doing such things in order to get divine love, are you not doing such things for a reward?”
It is not being done “to get.” It is our nature (higher nature) to be compassionate, forgiving, and giving. The sun does not shine to get something; it shines because that is its nature. Of course, we are living beings and not the sun, and our nature is considerably more complex. Clearly, human beings have a dual nature: there is the tendency to be selfish as well as the tendency to be unselfish; there is the tendency be helpful for the sake of being helpful, and there is the tendency to be helpful for the sake of getting something in return. The one nature is our higher (spiritual) nature and the other is our lower (animal) nature.
“If you are doing good in order to make it to heaven or not go to hell, are you really doing good for yourself.”
Ultimately, whatever we do we do to avoid pain. It is painful not to be ourselves; it is painful to be in our ego; it is painful to be unreal; it is painful to be ignorant of our real nature. “Know Thyself”, why? because it is painful when we are ignorant of our true self. Ultimately, when we know ourselves: when we REALLY know our self, there is no doubt or guesswork about who or what we are. When we ARE what we ARE, there is nothing that we do TO GET something or BE SOMETHING for ‘something.’
“I believe in no such thing, yet I follow the golden rule. I treat others as I want to be treated, and I help my fellow man. I do this for no reward from anything spiritual because I believe no such thing exists.”
Really, I think we agree on this point. Perhaps this is merely a matter of semantics: ‘spiritual’ is just another word to signify your essence, i.e., who and what you essentially are. You ARE what you ARE and what you do you do from the core of your being that is YOU. Some people call that core of being your essence; some people call it your spirit; some people just call it YOU.
“So, I ask you.. Who is the better person (not that I truly think some one with faith is better or worse). The person doing these things to be loved by their God, the person that does it to stay out of Hell, or the person that does it with no expectation of any kind of reward of any kind.”
Without a doubt, the one who does it with no expectation of any kind of reward of any kind. That person is what I call a REAL person; that person is the one I say is true to them self, and is therefore really truthful. That person honors their own real self and is truly honorable. Others do what they do for some motive; whether ulterior or ultruistic, it is still a motive and therefore driven by ego.