Generosity

One of the most beautiful things that we can do on a daily basis is to be generous. To give for the sake of giving. I've written before about giving or being generous for a specific reason - to satisfy our own ego, to make us feel important. This is not the kind of generosity that I am referring to. Generosity is based on a true feeling of love no matter who the recipient is or how it is received. It doesn't have to be money or material things. It can be a gesture, a word of encouragement, a pat in the back, helping someone stranded on the side of the road, or something like the following story:

During the Ming dinasty, there was a Chinese emperor who was the proud owner of an exquisite and unique twelve piece china set never seen before. He valued this china set so much that he had assigned its daily care to one of his most trusted servants. One day, the servant was cleaning the set when suddenly one of the plates slipped from his hands and shattered into dozens of pieces. When the emperor discovered this accident, he immediately summoned the servant to his quarters. The emperor was furious while the servant begged for forgiveness. No amount of begging would prevent the emperor from sentencing this poor servant to death. He had destroyed the emperor's most precious possession and needed to pay with his own life.

The news of this incident spread like wild fire throughout the empire. How could someone be sentenced to die for breaking a single plate? In a remote village, an old and wise man decided to pay the emperor a visit. He arrived in the city and requested an audience with the emperor. The old man stood in front of the emperor and confidently assured him that he could "fix" the broken plate. He told the emperor, "by the time I am done, all twelve plates will look the same." The emperor looked at this fragile old man and was incredulous, but decided to give him the opportunity. The old man requested that the entire china set be placed on the dining room table that was covered with the finest white silk table cloth. One of the servants brought the pieces of the broken plate which were also placed on the table. The emperor and his court anxiously waited for the results. It was inconceivable that he could put together dozens of broken pieces and bring the plate to its original form. The old man calmly walked to the table and grabbed one corner of the table cloth. He pulled it and all the plates crashed to the marble floor. He turned toward the emperor and said with a smile, "now all the plates look the same."

The emperor was livid. He wanted to strangle the old man with his own hands. The old man fell to his knees ready to accept his faith. The emperor told him, "One of my servants broke one plate and I sentenced him to death. Now you must also die." The old man replied, "When I heard about your decision, I decided to come here and take this action. I've lived a long and good life and I couldn't leave this world knowing that 11 other people could have died for breaking the remaining plates. I am ready to go so others don't have to pay such a price."

The emperor reflected on these words from the old and wise man and realized that he had been blinded by his ego, impulse, and his material attachment to twelve simple plates. He ordered the immediate release of his servant and thanked the old man for teaching him a lesson.

Many of us will probably never take our generosity to this level.......but I wonder why not?