Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva
Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva: Verse 25
If those who want to be awake have to give even their bodies,
What need is there to talk about things that you simply own?
Be generous without looking
For any return or result — this is the practice of a bodhisattva.
Have you been called upon to give of your time and possessions? Is it true that to be truly alive — or awake if you will — we need to live by the golden rule, and give to others as we would give to ourselves?
We’ve all been watching the despot claim that everything we thought we owned collectively in fact belongs to him alone. He’s made us shudder at the very thought of personal ownership, it leads to thievery and the darkest kind of psychological misery.
What does it matter if you have all things you thought you needed, only to find they’ve cluttered up the space you’re trying to live in. Give it all away, you’ll feel a relief you didn’t know was possible.
Look at the despot, really take a long look at his bloated face, his stomach falling over his belt, full of food from someone else’s table. Make up gone, face pasty white like a ghost, hair almost gone, despite the disguises he creates in his sleep. Smell the despot, rancid aroma drifting up from wherever he settles, this is what happens when someone thinks he owns everything, all to himself. “It’s mine” we all heard his screams and rants over and over, “it’s mine” “It’s mine” “It’s mine.” Run as fast as you can, this isn’t the life you want.
Don’t even glance at the world you thought for a moment belonged to you. Offer it all up to whomever comes by. You will miss nothing, you need no rewards, nor gifts, nor promises, give it all up and find your own kind of freedom. A new world of bliss awaits you when you’re living like a bodhisattva.
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