Giving a possession can be easy. 

Giving of oneself takes true generosity. 

Dropping a box of clothes off at Goodwill or St. Vincent’s, buying some cans and packages of food to put into the food bank bin at the grocery store, writing a check to our town’s animal shelter, donating online after a disaster—all are quick and easy.

Taking the time to help someone is an entirely different matter.

Most of us don’t have an endless supply of time and energy. (At least not yet. We will when we become Buddhas.) So committing to help—and then actually doing so—can feel daunting. Easy or otherwise, the wise person gives to others, especially when it’s daunting. Especially of themselves.

An object or some money is one thing. Our energy is another. That’s personal! And that’s what makes it so special. Giving of ourselves is selfless. But we’re more used to selfish. Giving selfishly locks up our heart.

Giving selflessly flings open the doors of our heart and enables us to step outside of ourselves. Where fresh air awaits. 

We do not require diverse chants and mantras . . . (Click image for video)

Behaving morally, we’ll be more free 

as we break away from the restrictions 

imposed on us due to our bad karmas. 

We’re all prisoners, all confined to life in a cell. Some cells feel spacious and luxurious with walls of sparkling glass so clear we’re not even aware of their presence. Others are cramped and barren with rusting, impregnable bars cold to the touch that, for all their decrepitude, powerfully encircle us.

Our guards and fellow inmates may be attentive and understanding, eager to lessen our suffering. Or they may be mean-spirited and vengeful, intent on making us pay for our offenses, real or perceived. But whatever our current cell’s conditions, once we leave our cell, it will only be to enter another one.

The way to escape?

When alone or with others, look around our cell and the surrounding ones and determine all the ways we can think, speak, and behave honorably and selflessly. And then do so. This will make us more at ease in our current cell. In the future, we will leave all the cells behind, leave samsara.