Happy September!

It is better to give than to receive. You have heard this phrase and perhaps even flung it around a few times to others; maybe you are even aware that it is a bible verse (Acts 20:35) but have you ever honestly contemplated the meaning of these eight words with the life you lead and the person you are? It is obviously about givers and takers, and most of us consider ourselves the giver, not the taker. The problem is that we all exaggerate the truth and delude ourselves into thinking we are the giver. We believe that we are the givers; if we were all givers as we say we are and not takers, the world would be a great place to live. But if we look around, we see that greed, hate, dissension, and jealousy are the dominant attitudes in today's world. We are in dire circumstances, and now is the time to examine why we have put ourselves here and what we need to do to get out of the situation. To accomplish this, we must be brutally honest and radically accepting about who we are and where we are on the journey; if we hope to create a more harmonious existence among all beings. The first thing we must acknowledge is that the world outside of us reflects what lies within us. We must take responsibility for our thoughts and recognize that the thoughts we think not only create our inner world but impact the outer world. Most humans find great satisfaction in repeating the same negative thoughts of fear, doubt, and confusion, which feed their attachments and aversions. We revel in creating a world of "us" versus "them" or living in a mindset of being a victim or sufferer because that justifies that it is a cruel world, not a righteous one. This mindset feeds you owe me, or I'm entitled to this, or just being a drone. 

The victim mentality mindset does not lend itself to being a giver or, more importantly, expansive, and being a victim does precisely the opposite and makes one a parasite. Unfortunately, we live in a time when victim mentality is the prevalent way of thinking. Sadly this way of thinking keeps creating discord between all beings and harms the planet and all its inhabitants, and the point of origin will always be the most afflicted, which is our hearts.

Let's consider our part in destroying the world, starting with our most basic needs (the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink) before moving on to other relationships. How is your relationship with Mother Earth? To know the answer to this, you must ask yourself, what is your relationship with yourself? When you examine your underlying thoughts and motives, you realize how your inner trappings affect the outer world. More specifically, your thoughts will impact the air, water, and food you and all others consume. With every exhalation, you are exhaling the energy of your mind into the world. What is the quality of your mind? What is the quality of your thoughts? Are your thoughts full of anger, sadness, jealousy, fear, disgust, and satisfaction? Anything but unbiased and objective thinking, and you are exhaling flawed thinking and creating greater chasms of separation between you and all other beings. This kind of faulty thinking is inhaled by others, creating more biased reasoning and depths of separation within others. You are not here to change the way others think. You are here to change the way you think! We must remember we are here to take responsibility for ourselves, change how we think and feel, or stay in our lane.

Remember, Divine Mother does not have favorites. We, humans, have preferences and aversions, and these preferences lead to a distorted reality. We are constantly filling the atmosphere with our attachments and dislikes; this energy then goes into the land and water, or more explicitly, the power of our thoughts finds its way into the food and water we consume. Our minds and bodies are polluted as within and without, so our land and waterways are also contaminated. The pollution in our minds correlates to the breakdown and ill-treatment of Mother Earth and all of her children.

With this in mind, do you consider the food you eat?

Where did it come from, and how did it get to your table?

How was the Earth treated that grew the food you consume?

If you eat meat, how were the animals you are consuming treated?

What happens to the packaging?

How fast are we filling up landfills with our waste?

Considering our water supply, we are rapidly polluting the water systems with our waste. It is not only industrial waste, oil leaks and spills, and agriculture refuse destroying our water supply but marine dumping. Yes, marine dumping. We dump our garbage into the oceans. Since we are creating more waste, we leave more and more in our water. How is this giving to the land that sustains us? It is not giving! It is taking, we humans (especially Americans) feel entitled for the Earth to continue to care for us, yet we are not interested in caring for her. We expect her to give to us constantly. Remember, we have created these mindsets of being entitled or being owed something, and we are regularly taking it, but what do we give back in return? Giving is a sign of gratitude; not giving is a sign of thanklessness. How grateful are you for planet Earth?

Now consider our relationships with each other. Do you give with no expectation of receiving anything in return? Not even a thank you? Any expectation for anything in return, and you are no longer giving; you are bartering. That does not mean the recipient should not be grateful, but you, as the giver, should not expect it. If the recipient is not appreciative, then they are not just taking but taking without gratitude, which is akin to stealing. Now is the time to ask yourself, how many times have I stolen from Earth and the beings that inhabit Earth?

Why don't we give more than we take? We don't give more because we don't have faith. We don't have faith in God that she will take care of us, and we will receive all we are supposed to receive. Taking this into account, we see that by giving, we are expanding not only because it cultivates faith but also because we connect more to our Divine Nature and not our ego. Remember, God is always giving (he continues to love and gives to us even when we hate him or are angry at him), which is what the sages, saints, and masters do. They give. What did Jesus do? He gave his life and gave it freely. With this in mind, we can surmise that giving is God-like, which explains why giving is better than receiving. Now is the time to contemplate just what kind of giver you are. Examining this facet of your personality will give you a lifetime of study as it brings us face to face with our inner poverty and demons. When we know our demons, we can slay them, and the more monsters we kill, the closer we are to our true Selves. 

In Loving Service,

Ranjani