KrsnaGuru’s lessons outwardly seem to be simple worldly life lessons, but the lessons are much deeper and profound.
KrsnaKnows gave a lesson on what seemed on the surface to be about gift-giving, but in its depth, it was considerably more.
His words were similar to these: Why don’t we always give the best to everyone? When sending items to a charity, sadly we may look to give that which we do not want. Maybe the item is old and out of fashion or maybe it’s somehow imperfect, yet we think we should give it away while keeping the newest and most perfect items for ourselves and those dearest to us. If you were giving away even a used garment, can you not give away the one you cherish most?
If you were offering a gift to God what would you give? Our growth comes when we see all beings as the same–as the One God.
When giving, always give the best that you can, and always give from the heart. Your gift doesn’t need to be the grandest on earth, it only needs to be your best offering–given from the heart with no sense of doership. Giving a gift, material or esoteric must not be transactional in that there should be no quid pro quo.
Our ego’s sense of doership becomes evident when we say that “I gave.” We pat ourselves on the back thinking we did a great deed, but can we just give and not speak about it? Whatever is given, is given by God.
Is any single thing, more sacred than any other thing in this universe?” One may hold certain items to be sacred and others not to be sacred, but in fact, it is all sacred! Everything is God’s alone. So you may then wonder, in the lesson of gift-giving, how can we give our “best” if all things are the same? The answer is that it is our mind and ego that are making those judgments and since we have not overcome our mind and ego we have to practice goodness. To give the “best” is good—sattvic.
The three modes of material nature are goodness (sattvic), passion (rajasic), and laziness (Tomasic). In Spiritual, Guruji teaches us to rise upwards and He has stated that eventually we must transcend even the sattvic and know all to be God. Until then, we must keep ourselves from falling into rajasic and tamasic ways of behaviour by practising our sattvic nature.
It has not been possible for me to fathom the complete depth of my Guruji’s lessons. Moreover, it has taken me a bit of time to assimilate just a small part of His teachings into daily life. For me, His lessons continue to unfold as my practice continues.
Next time you give away something, see if you can practice His lesson.
