Generosity is a two-way street
The most interesting thing about generosity – and one thing I am just now learning – is that there is a generosity at work in receiving as well as giving.
The most interesting thing about generosity – and one thing I am just now learning – is that there is a generosity at work in receiving as well as giving.
The First Precept is born from the awareness that lives everywhere are being destroyed. We see the suffering caused by the destruction of life, and we undertake to cultivate compassion and use it as a source of energy for the protection of people, animals, plants, and minerals.
Sometimes people are able to recognize their higher purpose or potential for having greater meaning in their lives because they feel moved by their own intuition. Individuals experience their intuition when they have a deeper sense of inner wisdom as to what actions they should be doing.
At first I listened carefully but time passed and I began to get used to the quiet. But it wasn’t quiet, the air was full of sound. I began to turn my attention to what I came to call, the music of the day or indeed the music of the moment.
Mainstream psychology is not concerned with greed, or excessive desires, as a morbidity that can lead to emotive disorders and mental suffering. Instead, it hypothesizes that the gratification of desires and wants is a necessary condition for mental health and happiness.
I feel as if I belong to North America and, of course, to Canada in particular. I work here as a teacher of English as a second language and I have friends here. Really, if you ask me where I’m from, I would say that I am from Canada. I am proud of the fact that I am a Canadian. And above all, I’m proud of the fact that I am a Canadian of Chinese origin.
Love and compassion are the two key components of the Four Noble States of Mind revealed by the Buddha. In their eagerness to live a moral life, some Buddhists may regard love and compassion as a moral or ethical norm to live up to, or as a lofty ideal to ‘advocate.’
As the days get shorter and we enter the thick of the winter season, there is no shortage of advice for how to deal with the proverbial winter blues. Turn on the TV, open any newspaper, or browse through any magazine, and you’ll be sure to find all sorts of ‘quick, useful strategies for lifting your spirits.’
Kindness: this is one of the so-called “Fruits of the Spirit” that constantly eludes me. I can do “kindness” for a while; but then, impatience, weariness, exasperation and downright nastiness take over. Unfortunately, these responses are not included in the list of approved “Fruits of the Spirit”.
It seems that we are all addicts. Shopping, TV, the computer, technology, the internet, food, coffee and even chocolate have become objects of our addiction. It is hard to find something that we can enjoy without the risk of becoming addicted. One might even wonder if we are all destined to become addicts?…