Metta and the practice of generosity
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Giving to ourselves
Of course our giving to others has to be balanced with nourishing ourselves. People sometimes go too far in terms of giving to others and neglect to look after themselves. When we’re giving in such a way it generally comes out of a sense of guilt or a lack of self-worth.
In the long-term, if we are going to sustain our giving to others, then we have to make sure that we have something to give. So we need to make sure that we give ourselves time to reflect, time to rest, time to play.
Tray this: A practice for the week
Perhaps you might want to notice over the next few days the ways in which you give (we often give without really thinking about it) and the ways in which you resist giving or perhaps even take unduly, in the material and non-material ways that I’ve suggested above.
Once you begin to notice a tendency to resist giving, or to take, just be aware that there is a choice. Often you can create a space in your experience into which a spirit of generosity can emerge. And then you can enjoy that sense of free generosity in which “the gift is in the giving” - where we have a sense that to give is to receive.
What we receive when we give in this way is a new sense of ourselves. We can experience the freedom and joy that comes from letting go of a constricting notion of ourselves - a misguided sense that in order to feel secure we have to hold on tightly to our possessions, our energy, and our time.
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