This is Selflessness

Recently in a discussion about selflessness and helping others, someone said that for the vast majority of her time, there just aren't that many opportunities to help others. I can see how easy it is to feel that way, even for such a thoughtful person. After all, most of us are ordinary people without much influence over others. With ordinary jobs and ordinary lives, how much can most of us do? How many opportunities do we really have to practice selflessness?

Then one gentleman said to think of what happens when we go to the supermarket. All the products we buy help support countless others. So in that way she was helping others. I suggested another way of filling that supermarket cart. By not buying meat or fish, even for one day a week, we were not supporting an industry that is based on killing and suffering. By buying locally-grown foods, we are supporting local farmers instead of a system that relies on monoculture and the heavy use of petroleum, and which further damages our environment and uses up what would have gone to future generations.

This is selflessness.

The gentleman responded with examples of how we can be more considerate in driving to and from the supermarket. By driving less aggressively, we can allow others to pull in ahead of us or simply drive in a more polite manner that doesn't contribute to road rage.

This is selflessness.

When we get home from shopping and prepare that night’s dinner, we can be more aware of not wasting any food. Instead of fixing a bunch of food, we can fix just what we or our family can eat, or plan on saving the leftovers for another meal. And then remember to eat it before it goes bad. As to what is served that night, unless we are ill, we should be responsible for eating everything on our plate. In the “developed” countries as much as twenty-five percent of the food we bring home is thrown out. Our planet does not have enough resources to allow such waste to continue any longer. What we waste today would have gone to our children and grandchildren tomorrow. Instead of mindlessly wasting food, we can value all the work and resources that went into producing it and use everything we bring home.

This is selflessness.

As the day winds down in the evening, we can check on others in the household to see if they are okay or if perhaps they are concerned about something that happened during the day or not feeling well.

This is selflessness.

Every single one of us can practice selflessness. It is the sincerity behind the action that matters. Think of the story of the woman and her offering of an oil lamp to the Buddha:

King Ajatasatru invited the Buddha to preach and offered as a token of his piety several tens of thousands of lamps. At the time, an old woman (named Nanda) who had been begging, and had only managed to collect two coins, bought some oil with them and offered it all in a small lamp to the Buddha. [With this offering she vowed to eliminate the darkness of the sufferings of all people.] Old and hungry, she later collapsed and died.

By the next morning the many lamps offered by the king had already burned themselves out, but the lamp of the poor old woman was still burning with increasing brilliance. When it proved impossible to extinguish it, the Buddha explained that it was so because of the donor’s extremely fervent faith and transcendental vow. ‘The light of a Buddha can never be extinguished’ said the [Buddha] who then predicted that she would attain Buddhahood.

Nanda did not think that her small offering was unworthy. She probably didn't think of waiting till she could afford more oil for the lamp. She simply gave.

This is selflessness.