What i loved during this week end
it is the manners
not mannerism
but manners
manners were not for the sake of keeping up appearances
BUT on the contrary
they were meant to SHARE CONCRETELY the resources at stake
be it your time, your place in the queue to get a plate to get your meal,
everything was being shared
it was a collective work
like for playing volleyball
they served others before self service
they gave plates and filled it with meal
while the other was doing same for them
everyone was taking care of the other
while this very other was taking care of them
this is the beauty to get the surprise of being served by
new eyes and hands
different than yours
while you are serving the other
as if you are serving yourself
by giving the choicest dishes to the other
love the other as you love yourself
do good to the other as you do good to yourself
so that the other becomes yourself
for if you are used to take the best piece of meat
you will exactly pick up the same but this time to feed someone else!
and this creates BEAUTIFUL patterns to be experienced by others
otherwise the others would have remained STUCK with the same old patterns of theirs
and would not have experienced another way of tasting a dish (different in quantities and association)
hence the "utility" of serving
for you could say "hey why serving someone, when they ALSO have hands to serve themselves!"
and the other becomes treated like you treat yourself usually
and so in a way you extend your feeling of self and make it wide and spread it as far as you can
by reaching as many as you can
besides, it is also for the other the occasion to witness your inner beauty...
and the other needs not to get envious or jealous of it,
for he/she is GETTING it,
by being the OBJECT of attention and all manners...
yes in Asia, usually, people DO serve others
but either it is mannerism like anywhere else
once you enter into routine
you take it for granted and then no more feeling, nor heart accompagning the service
and thus it becomes a custom/tradition, a RULE
while it was initially meant as a service...
this is how heavy customs and traditions were born
esp. still are in use in Asia, for instance.
origin is ALWAYS service
for the AIM of sharing
and THIS is being done because of the SENSE OF COLLECTIVITY
which itself comes from the TRUE KNOWLEDGE of ONENESS
we are ONE in spirit
you are me and i am you
we are just "separated" as individual to witness differences in the process of experimentation
but it makes not one more superior to another
except through the development of the refined state of Oneness
this is what "piety" is about
lol
i feel odd using "religious" terms now
for it is like i have to wash them from religious imitation of models
while they were meant to be used to just give an idea(l)
but ended up being a RULE and a constraint, a jail and eventually a judgement
leading from self punishment to world wars
so cruel one can be to oneself
when acting in plain ignorance of (we are all One)
so seeing westerners adopting Asian manners in terms of service
is really beautiful
for they are doing it CONSCIOUSLY
and therein lies the devotion
when you give of yourself (under the use/form of your OWN consciousness) to do this
and hence the meaning of this ayah from quran "and we have created you in tribes, so that you know one another"
where it has become a custom/tradition and burden (ex : women all day in kitchen and at men's service)
somewhere else, like in France, it has becomein the hands of such people embodying it, a SERVICE
a SHARING and an enjoyable experience
and finally,
when someone buys you some fruits
and tell you, hey look at those beautiful fruits
it is AN OPEN invitation to you
to catch the BALL
catch it and make it flow
if you just eat the fruit
hmm, it is ok
but if you partake in their cost
it is fabulous
for you are reaching out for someone
lessening his financial burden
for things done in collectivity are always more with added values
than when done separately
for it gives joy to the other to have been magically "rescued" and paid back a part of his cost
while he ASKED NOT
and put him into action to GO ON doing such small favors and surprises
he feels free and happy to do it
you have thus REMOVED burden from his path (ihsan = doing good)
to thrive into making small healthy purchases for others.
and you what have you gained?
one could say,
yeah but on the spot it hurts to take money out
while you had not budgeted it
this is true as far as logic is concerned
but you aim IS to empty yourself for your cup to be filled anew, remember?
in that case, the other is doing you a favor by accepting your money too...seen like this
it makes sense
zakah
is when you give a part of your wealth to "poors"
and PLEASE poors means not the one in street
it is the one BELOW you ON THE SPOT when your heart tells you to share your own resources
i know people caricature SO MUCH that they see it not, for they live in the improbable future of meeting some beggar, while it is about the PRESENT
yet, the word itself means "purification"
yes... purification
it is when you do not let things accumulate till they create a blocage in you
so you have to let them go
till they flow
similar is the example of a river which flows vs stagnant waters which become muddy
due to lack of movements.
seen like this still acceptable
but ALL is in the MOMENT
are we able to DO it and with HAPPY excitation expecting GOOD on the moment?
this can only be done so, when one truly starts experiencing the joy of it
of all of this
then, can one be even more eager to repeat such behavior of "as generous as the winds".
:)
