Sep 4, 2002, 12.00am IST
SADHU VISHWAMURTIDAS.
“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction,” dec-lared Isaac Newton in the 1700s. “Garbage in, garbage out,” say geeks. Sow a seed, reap a fruit. Plant a chilli, you get chillies back. Plant a mango, you get mangoes back.
But how is it that sometimes people sow chillies but get mangoes and others sow mangoes, but get chillies? There’s no inconsistency in this; the chillies are simply fruits of some earlier actions or decisions and the mangoes are yet to come. You can’t force a seed to grow. You can’t compel a flower to blossom. These things depend on the seed type and environmental conditions. Therefore, one must not get dejected — one must not stop sowing good seeds, because there exists no other way to receive good fruits. Often, bitter, drier fruits are more nutritious and health-inducing than the succulent, sweeter ones.
This is the natural law of the universe. You get what you give, though you may not recognise it, because, it may arrive earlier or later than you expect it to or it could come in a somewhat different guise. For example, when we exhale, we give carbon dioxide to plants and trees. The plants and trees in turn metabolise it and release oxygen, which we again metabolise and return to the trees — in the form of carbon dioxide. If we did not give carbon dioxide to the trees, they would perish eventually, and so would we. The cells in our body nourish one another, supporting and supplying each other with nutrients the other needs. The entire biological and ecological system combined makes possible the sustenance of the fabulous and intricate organic system/s we call ‘life’.
Similarly, if you befriend, you will be befriended. If you love, you will be loved. Love, family and friends enrich one’s life more than any amount of wealth. But you need to make continual investments of friendliness, affection and love to keep the system fully functioning. This is because we are all human beings and we don’t love all the time. Sometimes we say nasty things to a loved one — maybe we say things we don’t really mean, but it amounts to a withdrawal from the love account. What you take out, needs to be redeposited as early as possible.
Affection and love are not about giving away money or buying expensive gifts, although it is necessary to do these things on certain occasions. When you give of your possessions, you give little. When you give of your self, you give all. Time, a sympathetic ear, humour or a helping hand in times of distress are all what more people need to receive and to give.
Most of us think we give much more to society than we receive. Psychologists call it Self-Serving Bias: we have an unwitting capacity to forget our neighbour’s good deeds, remember our good ones, and forget our bad ones. We feel shortchanged. Just a little effort and reflection will show that the balance is not always tilted the other way.
Giving benefits your health. A 14-year study of 2,700 people in Michigan, US, revealed that those who did charity work lived longer, were relatively free from heart disease, had lower blood pressure and greater peace of mind. The dynamics of happiness are asymmetrical. Fulfilment comes from giving, not receiving. The fact that so many people in the world are still disappointed, frustrated and unfulfilled despite the fact they live in opulence compared to many others is evidence that they have only received. And the real magic of giving lies in the way you give.
Give with your whole being, your whole heart — remember, half a seed cannot germinate. And after planting your seeds, expect absolutely nothing in return: give without remembering you gave and take without forgetting you took. (www.swaminarayan.org)
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