“Selfless love is without attachment.
It is rooted in giving and branches, inevitably, into freedom. It is the type of love which says, “Whatever you do, the door of my heart is open to you”. It is the way that we can all live meaningfully.
Such selfless love is the foundation of all charity work. If you give a donation expecting recognition, that is not selfless. If you serve a community wanting to be praised, that is not giving. If you offer your friendship to another wanting something in return, then that is not compassion. Charity, like selfless love, says, “Whatever you do, whoever you are, I give you my heart and share it with you”.
Even monks practise charity. My monastic life is a festival of giving.
A woman called me on the phone an hour before I was to give a public talk.
“Are you speaking tonight?” she politely enquired.
“Yes, madam. The talk begins a 7.30 pm”, I replied.
“How much does it cost to get in?” she continued.
“Nothing, madam, nothing at all”, I explained.
“No, no!” she interrupted, “You don’t understand. How much money do I have to pay?”
“Madam, you don’t have to pay any money. All my talks are free”.
“Listen!” she shouted down the phone line, “DOLLARS! CENTS! How much must I cough up to get through the door?”
“Madam”, I said soothingly, “You don’t cough up any money at the door, neither on the way in nor on the way out. We don’t ask for your name nor press you for a donation. If you don’t like the talk, you may walk out at any time. It’s free”.
There was a long pause.
“Well” she said with sincere consternation, “What do you guys (meaning `monks’) get out of this then?”
“Happiness, madam”, I replied, “We only get happiness”.
Such selfless giving is the difference between living life meanly and living life meaningfully. The more you let go the more richly one lives. That’s why all the donation boxes in my temples in Perth are called “Letting Go Boxes”.
The Buddha said at Dhammapada verse 204
“Contentment is the greatest wealth.”
Thus Buddhism, which teaches such contentment through selfless love: “Whatever you do, the door of my heart is open to you”, is all about wealth creation. The meaning of life is to generate such wealth. Contentment is your portfolio, selfless love are your shares, giving the most secure of investments with dividends literally “out of this world”, all guaranteed by the Chairman of the Reserve, the Buddha Himself.
The seventeenth century English romantic poet, John Keates, opened his celebrated poem `Endymion’ with the timeless words:
“A thing of beauty, is a joy forever”.
Indeed, many of us find meaning in life through the appreciation of beauty. – through watching a glorious sunset in the evening, seeing a roaring waterfall in an unscarred forest, or by pausing to enjoy a brilliant coloured flower smiling by the wayside. Beauty does give life meaning, but not so much in the way said so far.
Beauty for a monk, said the Buddha (Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta) is virtue. So it is. The most beautiful people in the world are those who are pure hearted. The good person is good to be with. The kind, are kind of nice. And a holy one among the many folk is like a rose emerging out of the thorn bush. Even a wrinkled, broken toothed and grey haired old person who has lived a virtuous life glows with an inner beauty that would make any super-model envious.
Monk teachers like me encourage all their listeners to live a moral life, to gain that inner beauty that, in John Keates’ words, is “a joy forever”. Which is why I call my Buddhist City Centre in Perth, Western Australia, not “Dhammaloka” but “Ajahn Brahm’s Beauty Parlour”! I give little “nips and tucks” to your moral life, apply facial treatments to your honesty, and take the wrinkles out of your precepts. Living life with such a beauty is living meaningfully. Try it. If you want a good time, then be good.”
Source: Living Meaningfully Dying Joyfully
AJANH BRAHM
https://bswa.org/teaching/living-meaningfully-dying-joyfully/
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