Heart Of The Matter
It was between a sip of heaven and a contented sigh that the conversation suddenly veered from business to philosophy.
"Have you ever felt like you needed to help people?"
I eyed HC through the curling steam from my coffee cup. "Just recently but very strongly."
"How?" he asked, looking at me intently.
"I don't know yet," I answered. "But everyday I ask for an opportunity to learn and practice compassion, humility and strength, and I believe that one day, I will be shown how I'm meant to serve others."
"But what's your motivation for doing that? Is it to feel good inside, to give back to society, to make up for your wrongdoings?"
I pondered over his question. No one had ever asked me that before. After a while, I slowly answered, "Well, I suppose my motivation comes from a deep yearning to make other people's lives a little better."
My reply sounded uncertain and hollow to my own ears. HC nodded and the conversation returned to business negotiations. On the drive back, I chewed over his question. It bothered me that I didn't have a motivation for displaying kindness and compassion. Then I realised that that was the answer.
Kindness and compassion need no motivation. They should just be given.
It was between a sip of heaven and a contented sigh that the conversation suddenly veered from business to philosophy.
"Have you ever felt like you needed to help people?"
I eyed HC through the curling steam from my coffee cup. "Just recently but very strongly."
"How?" he asked, looking at me intently.
"I don't know yet," I answered. "But everyday I ask for an opportunity to learn and practice compassion, humility and strength, and I believe that one day, I will be shown how I'm meant to serve others."
"But what's your motivation for doing that? Is it to feel good inside, to give back to society, to make up for your wrongdoings?"
I pondered over his question. No one had ever asked me that before. After a while, I slowly answered, "Well, I suppose my motivation comes from a deep yearning to make other people's lives a little better."
My reply sounded uncertain and hollow to my own ears. HC nodded and the conversation returned to business negotiations. On the drive back, I chewed over his question. It bothered me that I didn't have a motivation for displaying kindness and compassion. Then I realised that that was the answer.
Kindness and compassion need no motivation. They should just be given.
posted by starlight | 12:05 AM
6 Comments:
funny thing about yoga. whomever starts on the path, inevitably wants to share it with others. it's the nature of the beast. it's like a virus, if you like, but a good virus...
as you move towards enlightenment (or journey to your inner Self, if you like), you gather light, and you will also give out light.
no motivation required. it's a given....
you gather light and give out light - what a beautiful way of putting it. and i know it's true because that's exactly what you two are doing right now.
It’s amazing what answers come to us when we’re alone and tune into ourselves. It’s our yoga that gives us this ability … I’m so happy for you.
Peace out,
that's so true...but the tricky part is tuning in and actually listening!
hi burhan. thanks for dropping by. and that's an interesting comment. perhaps one of the ways to gauge someone's sincerity is to see how the person responds to a negative result. if they're purely altruistic, then they wouldn't be affected by the result but if they aren't then their frustration and anger would come through because their efforts have not earned them the admiration/approval they were seeking. people like mother theresa and the dalai lama know that their role is to just do the best they can and leave the rest up to a higher power. they have no issues with 'losing face', etc. of course, this is much more difficult for us mere mortals! :)
by the way, i popped over to your blog. you've got deep stuff going on there!
you hit the nail right on the head, burhan!
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