December 19, 2011

Being good is easy when we trust our spirit

What we perceive as good always relates to what seems beneficial to us. What you feel good is what benefits you and likewise what is good for me is what I perceive what benefits me. In all these cases what is seen as good seems to harbour on selfishness. Therefore there is the fear of subverting another's good. How do we move from these nigglings of selfishness to working for the greater good? Unfortunately, even the greater good is tinged with selfishness. But we can indeed improve on this by thinking of what is good for society - ie. turning from MY good or YOUR good to OUR good. But even then this societal good is also tinged with selfishness. We just don't seem to get out of this all pervasive desire to own! Perhaps that is to be human! Yet our resolve must be to rise above the pettiness of being human and regain some of the universal spirit that is dormant within us which is our element and that which has been covered up by our years of social nurturing. While we can never be devoid of craving that is the hallmark of being human, our move towards societal good will mean a moving towards our inner spirit. And in doing so, we will be seeking the commonality that binds our seemingly separate existence. Our service to society is a way of regaining this inner essence and the universal principle that we all are ONE. Suddenly, there are no differences and no conflict. So the further we stretch ourselves towards serving another's benefit, rather than just our own, the ever closer we evolve towards our inner spiritual essence which is what we really are, shattering the mask we wear every day. That is the real homecoming!

2 comments:

Jadulla Jameel said...

I was very happy reading Being Good Is Easy When We Trust Our Spirit.I feel that for many it may be very hard "turning from My good or Your good to Our good".I think it may not be possible altogether and it may even not necessary to make "to make all these turnings".The real question here is how promote individuals who accommodate the good for all.The Nobel Goal for achieve this is in reduction in selfishness in our visions and actions.I mostly believe in "the survival of the nicest",(Reader Digest).I believe that survival of the fittest is not in the kingdom of man and is the mother of selfishness.May I thank you for starting this very important topic.

Abdul Sattar Yoosuf said...

Thanks very much Jadulla for initiating a thought process on this topic. You are very right, selfishness or our attachment with the physical world is at the basis of our difficulty of being nice to each other. Something I have always been curious about is the anomaly of difference in love and affection even among the siblings of families. Is it that we only identify and become closer to those who are similar in attitude to us. So could it be that selfishness is related to not seeing us in the other person?