[Downtown Dharma Listserve] Fwd: Quote on Generosity

Dear friends, Alexa shared this awesome quote below in response to last night's class on generosity. Enjoy! 

Kaira Jewel

​ (ps--she would also like to join this group. Who does she need to write to to join us?)​

kairajewel.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alexandra Klein-Mayer <alexandrakleinmayer2016@u.northwestern.edu>
Date: Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 1:22 PM
Subject: Quote on Generosity
To: Kaira Jewel Lingo <truejewel99@gmail.com>

Was thinking of this quote from Erich Fromm last night:

"Giving is the highest expression of potency. In the very act of giving, I experience my strength, my wealth, my power. This experience of heightened vitality and potency fills me with joy. I experience myself as overflowing, spending, alive, hence as joyous. Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness.

...The most important sphere of giving, however, is not that of material things, but lies in the specifically human realm. What does one person give to another? One gives of oneself, of the most precious they have, they give of their life. This does not necessarily mean that they sacrifice their life for the other-- but that they give the other of that which is alive in them; they give the other of their joy, of their interest, of their understanding, of their knowledge, of their humor, of their sadness-- of all expressions and manifestations of that which is alive in them. In thus giving of their life, one enriches the other person, one enhances the other's sense of aliveness by enhancing their own sense of aliveness. They do not give in order to receive; giving is in itself exquisite joy. But in giving they cannot help bringing something to life in the other person, and this which is brought to life reflects back to them; in truly giving, they cannot help receiving that which is given back to them. Giving implies to make the other person a giver also and they both share in the joy of what they have brought to life." 

-Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving

Hope you're well and happy!

Alexa

--

Alexa Klein-Mayer (gender pronouns: she/her/hers)

Northwestern University

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

Religious Studies, History

alexandrakleinmayer2016@u.northwestern.edu

"Life is short,
and we haven't much time
to gladden the hearts of those with whom
we walk this earth.
So... be swift to love!
and make haste to be kind!
And may the blessings of God be with you always."

-Benediction from the Episcopal Church

"May I be a protector for those who are without protectors,

A guide for those who journey on the road.

For those who wish to go across the water,

May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge."

- Shantideva, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life 

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