THE ETERNAL PARADOX OF GIVING AND TAKING
A key question is this. Why should we give, whether of ourselves or of things we might possess, when it is apparently more to our advantage to take? After all, we would appear to gain so much by taking, and in a real sense actually lose so much by ‘indulging’ in giving. Certainly there can be advantage in giving when we are linked with others in some sort of mutual arrangement. But what of altruistic giving. Must it always be to some extent sacrificial? There is an answer to this, and it is a profound one. Perhaps the words ‘advantage’ and ‘disadvantage’ do not sit easily with the concept of altruistic giving, but rather we should consider the actual effects – the spiritual effects – of either taking or giving. When we take in any sort of selfish or self-serving way, we actually close ourselves down, close ourselves up, cut ourselves off from others, and from our own spiritual and true selves. When we give altruistically, we instead open ourselves up, open up our souls. In fact, when we selfishly take, we darken ourselves and diminish ourselves.