Giving and Its Principles
Most people who tithe are giving out of duty or kindness. But they are not realizing an improved connection to source each time they give. The same thing happens to most musicians – when they play and have a moment of connection, they don’t know how to build it into a further one, where it just keeps getting better and better. It is the master musician who knows how to do that, and it is the master in life who knows how to do that. Mastering life should be certainly about doing that, otherwise we’re not even in tune with our reason for being. How can we master something, including our reason for being, if we are not even in tune with it. It is almost unbelievably embarrassing.
Giving is a universal principle. Everyone is a giver in their life. Some people focus on the value of their giving more than others. Of those people, some focus on the value of what they give, while others focus on the value of giving itself. We want to put our attention and study on the value of giving and how to improve our connection to our reason for being through our acts of giving.
This is important to understand so there is no confusion as to what aspect of giving we are discussing. The understandings we are exploring are aspects of giving that will help us be more purposeful, supportive and conductive to our reasons for being.
There are many forms of giving and just breathing is an ongoing example of how we give and take on a constant never ending basis. If we are to improve how we connect to the Divine in life, and if we want to make that improvement a constant, we have to think and act in ways that support it.
Breathing is a good example. If we are to become more consciously aware of our reason for living, through the process of breathing, we have to have some way of recognizing what the incoming value is and compare it to the outgoing. In other words, our in-breath has a reason and purpose behind it, which is something we have to know and realize if we expect to extend that purpose and reason through ourselves and into our world as we breathe out. We are the factor that distorts or enhances that reason as it moves through us to enter into our world. Our giving, in the sense of our study, is about becoming more aware of this process.
In order to become more aware, we have to become more cognizant of what lies upstream and compare it to what we are breathing out. The difference between the in and the out is our gift. As we become more understanding in realized ways, our outward giving, or out-breath becomes more conductive to the purpose we inhaled. The inhale is our way of connecting to source through breathing and our exhale is an example of how we value that connection as it runs through us into our world.
The principles which I am describing are principles that can help us build a stronger connection to that source value. This occurs as we act in ways that help the source value, and our relationship to it, grow. This growth has to be continuous, if we want a continuous relationship, and it has to be more and more apparent if we want it to become more apparent.
There is a dynamic process at work in every form of giving. Just as in breathing, something comes in and something goes out. In that process there is an extraction of value to run the body (heart, physical functions, etc,) and an introduction of value from the body as a result, such as a physical action, a thought, a feeling, a sense or some form of expression. The incoming, or in breath, is the factor which impresses us. But, all too often, we are so busy expressing ourselves, we hardly take notice of the incoming value.
This is why meditation is important. It is through meditation that we train ourselves to focus on the incoming value and the impression that value is making on us. Prayer is our outward expression. We are the point in between and it is through the process of what we call meditation and prayer that we begin to take time to reflect on our relationship to the incoming and outgoing values. We are the point in between the breath; we are what makes the difference.
When we study these things, we want our study to help us improve our connection to source. This way will yield us more understanding as we study. As we become more aware of our giving, we should also become more aware of our reason for giving. This allows us the opportunity to make adjustments so our intentions and reasons are even purer. We often are afraid to look at our motives, because we are not connecting our giving with the higher values upstream. The values we center on are the essence of what constitutes our practical reasons for being.
So, if we want to understand our reasons for being, we have to become aware of them. If we practice the principles in our study of giving, we have the opportunity to continuously improve our relationship to the source of our lives and to how we convert that into life. Usually we give with selfish motives. It may look impressive, kind and considerate, but usually it is done because of some selfish reason. Maybe it makes us look good, or feel that we have met an obligation, or maybe we were taught to do it, or don’t want to be feeling selfish. In any of these cases, we have little awareness of our reason for being, and that means the value we are connecting to and sharing is not from very far upstream. This tends to limit our scope and our access to the higher senses of being. When we choose to ignore this truth, we live out of touch and we miss understanding our reasons for being. It is important that we study in ways that honor the reason for being, otherwise we simply drift with no focus.
When a ship is at sea, there is only water and sky in all directions. The captain must stay focused on the course or the ship will drift aimlessly and life can be lost with no landing of purpose. This is also true when we work to improve our inner connection. It is like being at sea where no land is in sight and where it takes someone trained in navigation to follow the course.
When a captain follows a course, there is a constant correction occurring. Drift is part of the corrective formula because the captain knows from experience that it is a natural occurrence. What are the principles involved? If we want to navigate our courses in life through unknown, uncharted areas of ourselves and others, then we need to understand the principles that accomplish the course. And we need to understand how to use them in the most effective ways or we will be thrown off rather quickly by the drift.
The captains navigate by comparing their present position to some previous value or reference. Today they use the compass and GPS global positioning. Before that it was the stars, a compass and a sextant. In any case, there has to be something to measure to, and a way to chart change. This change can be progress or error, but until there is progress, there is no improvement in purpose. So, there has to be a way to build on the progress and to reduce and improve the error. The rudder, experience and measuring tools provide this.
We need the same things to happen if we are to succeed in accomplishing an improved connection in how we run our life courses. Just as the captain has to give good orders in order to be a good captain, we also have to give good orders and that means our giving has to be in good order, because giving is the way we share our reason for being.
Our giving can be very meaningful in meeting certain needs in life. But if we want to improve our understanding of what we call source, or purpose, we have to really sharpen our giving so we can better understand the nature of that purpose and inner source of being.
How do we do that? We can look at giving as a dynamic process. And we can work with that process to become more aware and better attuned to the values of that inner nature. As we become more attuned, we become more capable conductors.
And it is through an improvement in our conductivity that we become better connected to the current driving our lives.
This current, or source of life, is where we will find the higher understandings. When someone gives, does the giving offer a value that will truly help improve someone’s connection to purpose? When you give, do you find yourself living closer to your reason for being? Do you find yourself growing a better understanding? Do you build on this understanding in a way that benefits others? Are you helping to make conductivity easier? Do you practice giving in ways that will appreciate what you are being given?
There are some basic principles that can help us improve the way we connect through giving. These are not the only principles involved but these can help someone to improve their connection to source every time they give.
When we give, we should consider the source of our giving. This would be the reason for giving, e.g., why am I giving? What is the reason I am giving something? We should find something of value in that reason that we can respect and share. Then we should appreciate that value. This means we should increase the value because the reason ran through us. When we do this, we are becoming more source like. The source value is only grown when it is more source like. If it is less source like, then we have depreciated it. So, it is important that we increase the value we are respecting and that we share it in a way that makes the original value even more apparent. This is called appreciation. After we appreciate something, we now have an increased value to share. Some portion of that value should go back to source, or back to the reason that you just appreciated. This is called gratitude. Gratitude occurs when you give some measure of value back to the source of your improvement. This helps support the process and it is a way to build a constant relationship with your reason or connection to source. As this connection grows, your relationship to source grows more conductive and this produces constant value.
The value growing outward is your giving to the world, and the value you return to source is you growing inward to make that inner connection better understood.
People usually think of appreciation and gratitude as a way of saying thank you. These are static uses of the principles. The dynamic forms put more responsibility on us. The dynamic forms require us to produce value and to share that value inwardly and outwardly in ways that help the connection, or purpose, become even clearer.
When nature works in balance, these principles can be seen in dynamic form. When a tree grows, it passes through a yearly and seasonal cycle. It produces growth based on its connection to source and source value. It searches the earth for the nutrients it respects and for water and light. It works to appreciate its connection and if it is successful, growth occurs. After the increased value is realized, the tree drops a portion of that growth and value back to the earth from which it grows. Its leaves fall to the ground and breakdown into more nourishment for the tree to grow even more. The tree retains some value as it grows year after year, extending more shade and habitat, and resource value (fruit, nuts, wood, etc.) to its world. As it grows, its gratitude each year results in an even larger yield of leaves, seeds and fruit. The cycle continues and the tree becomes a candidate to give birth to new trees, where one tree can produce hundreds and where one seed has turned into thousands. Even when the life cycle is completed, the tree has still more value to share, and the process continues over time giving nature a continuous relationship to source.
If we are to become even more connected, we have to practice in ways that promote that connection.
If we neglect these understandings, we will deplete our resources. Why? Because our efforts to be re-source-ful are short and are neglecting to give value back to those points that support us.
But it isn’t just saying thanks or saying grace at mealtime. When you grow grass and collect the clippings, you deplete the soil of its nutrients. When a farmer grows hay, the soil must be amended or the field will grow weak. When you return a portion of the produce back to the field, you build a relationship with the source of growth. This is a basic law. You and I are growing the same way. We grow in a field of life, season after season, and we get so excited to be growing, we forget to give back value to support that continued growth.
We may say thanks once in a while, but what we should be doing is cultivating an even more fertile field. We should be respecting the value of the field, appreciating that value into something more tangible, returning portions of that value through gratitude back into the field, and building our relationship with source into one that will support us growing the kinds of higher understandings we and the people we serve need.
When we practice in life to give of ourselves in ways that promote a better connection to source, we are becoming the fertile field for the farmer, or master gardener, to grow understandings in. As we continue growing and giving value into our world and back to our source of life, the reasons for being become even more apparent and, in time, we grow to understand the role of the gardener. This puts us in touch with the mind of higher understanding, and so it continues as we breathe in and give out our relationship to life.
How do you give back to source in a way that fertilizes and nourishes your field of support and understanding? How does your giving help others? When we look at our lives and see what we value in the in-breath, and when we look at how we are converting that value into the moments we share as our out-breath, we begin to wake up an even deeper sense of responsibility. If we focus the value of our giving outwardly and neglect our inner connection, we work for appearances while losing our grasp of the ship’s rudder and course. If we focus inwardly and neglect the outward connection, we stand alone, adrift, missing the reason to share, and our inner value becomes meaningless.
We should consider giving as an opportunity to practice our reason for being. We should consider being something that serves the inner and outer needs. We should consider ways to grow the inner values, because as these grow and become more apparent and accessible, the outer needs will be better served.
What are the inner values that will best meet our needs? Inclusive values…values that will include our difficulties, differences, and demands in practical, usable terms. Lofty words don’t help in a crisis. Give in ways that help people connect better. Give in ways that honor the inner connection and reasons for being. Help others to find it when they are in trouble. Help make it clearer and more available and remember that when we give value to a better connection, higher understanding becomes more accessible.
This higher understanding, when appreciated to its source, includes all the wisdom and love in life itself. As we practice, we improve our field of conductivity. Even in shallow situations or when negativity is dominating, there is a need to practice. A fertile field will grow weeds too. Higher understanding helps to cultivate the values you want to promote and helps to discern the difference between appreciative and depreciative efforts.
As we practice, we become more understanding and the value of growing that understanding becomes even more apparent. When we give, we should consider that we are breathing and living for a reason. We should consider that we are in each moment to give that reason as we best know how. As we move from moment to moment, we should practice giving in ways that help us understand that reason better and better.
When we respect the reason, when we appreciate it by living and breathing more value into it, when we grow in that value and turn some of that growth, through gratitude, back to the reason that we grew, the reason becomes clearer and we are able to develop and cultivate our relationship to the source of a particular point. As we repeat this, we become even more conductive and the reason for being is able to work more efficiently through us. This leads to a state of superconductivity where we are able, through our willingness to be supportively giving, to continuously deepen our relationship to the point.
This is something people often fall short of experiencing, because they are usually unwilling to give continuously in these ways. But, when we do give continuously in these ways, a higher form of conductivity results.
An easy example would be a farmer that constantly works to grow crops and to amend the soil for a better crop next year, each year surpassing the previous yield and then moving on to improve the farm’s buildings, equipment maintenance, the health and education of the workers, then expanding to meet community needs, etc.
In music, the form itself is dynamic and the connection must be addressed continuously or the music becomes mechanical and dull. The master musician plays to expand the moment to include the listener and the connection to the Divine. The musician becomes the bridge as the inward connection is converted into outward sound. With each passing note and phrase, the musician listens and adjusts to improve the inward impression and the outward expression. As this process continues, the listener is able to realize a higher understanding that the language of music is available to share. But the sharing of that higher value depends on the musician as the primary source and the listener as the secondary. When the listener captures, or respects, a value that can be appreciated and returns a portion of that appreciation to the musician in the moment, the musician and listener bond and it is through that bond that the deeper meaning can become even better known.
When we neglect to connect and to share that connection, we shut the circuit of higher understanding down. We have to learn to share the values we are genuinely able to respect and appreciate. Our genuine capacity is a measurement of our conductance. If we want to increase our conductivity, we must learn to genuinely appreciate deeper value. And we must practice showing that appreciation through gratitude. This is how we honor the deeper values. We give them value, because we respected and appreciated them. Genuinely. Authentically. Supportively.
How do we know if we are being effective? We should ask ourselves if these core values are growing because of our support. We should choose to support the values that are most important to us. We should practice by finding some aspect of those values to respect. We should practice respecting those aspects in ways that appreciate them. We should take some portion of the appreciated value and return it to the source of our connection. We should see that our gratitude in fact does support the value in a way that makes that value even clearer and more apparent. And we should practice this as a way of giving so our lives become a living example of the values we want to support and share.
Scott Walter, Sensei
November 1, 2006
