by Richard
Thoughts of life and generosity came up after helping my daughter on a high-school assignment about genetics recently. It reminded me about cells in the human body, which are incredibly complex and work together in billions, for the purpose of supporting life.
Nature exists like this, freely giving for the benefit of the whole, without expecting anything in return. It’s what cells do naturally without thinking, and to me it describes the spirit of generosity, one of the paramitas in our practice.
I was also uplifted watching a documentary about the effort a few decades ago to map the human genome sequence. Scientists worked hard to keep the sequence free and publicly available, being essentially a map of who humans are. A charitable trust had to step in to provide the funding that narrowly avoided it becoming the intellectual property of a corporation, and today you can look it up online for free.
In the world it can sometimes seem like everything is transactional. While corporate donations occur, they mightn’t be done in the true spirit of generosity, as there’s probably an expectation of some sort of acknowledgement or return on investment. However of course there’s many people who do give freely, and often they’re unassuming or not well known. In my own life I’ve known many generous people, and am also inspired by others I have read about including:
- Tim Berners-Lee, inventer of the World Wide Web, he also created the world’s first website. Instead of commercialising his invention, he gave it away free for the benefit of everyone in the world
- Edward Jenner, inventer of the vaccine. It’s been estimated he has saved more lives than anyone else in history.
- James Harrison from Junee in New South Wales, who for 60 years regularly donated his blood that contained a rare antibody. In Australia about a fifth of pregnant women require a booster shot with antibodies taken from his blood, and it’s been estimated he has helped over two million babies.
In Norman Fischer’s book on the paramitas, The World Could be Otherwise, there are many reflections on generosity. There’s a reminder that a balanced approach is needed: in being generous it’s important not to neglect oneself, as being healthy allows the whole to be supported better. Another reflection from the book is:
The perfection of generosity confronts and softens our basic attitudes. To practice it is to appreciate the natural abundance of being, the inherent generosity of time and space, and the ongoing unfolding of life. These are exquisite gifts. Life itself is generous. Life is always making more life. Life is abundant and expansive, never stingy or small-minded. It keeps on going, bubbling up and expanding wherever it has a chance.