 The Triangle Of Giving  |
The Triangle of Giving
M.S.S. Gurucharan Singh Khalsa
Millis MA, U.S.A.
"True giving is very, very difficult unless you act from love. In love there is nothing but giving with never a loss." The Siri Singh Sahib Yogi Bhajan said this is in a lecture where he tried to clarify the nature and dimensions of giving. In our culture and in our personal lives the failure to distinguish three types of giving leads to many misunderstandings. If we use the triangle of giving it is easy to be clear about the kind of transaction and obligation we are engaging.
The triangle of giving comes directly from the relations between body, mind and spirit. Real prosperity comes with a conscious and fulfilled relationship between you and three areas of your mind: conscious, subconscious and superconscious. To connect with all three levels of the mind and to create a flow of prosperity between your finite sense of self and the Infinite, there are three forms of giving: gift; pledge; and tithe. If you do all three there will be no part of your mind that hesitates to give and receive from the vastness of the Creator.
A gift is a personal act. The Guru calls this "To give without a return expected." You send flowers to someone who did a good job or to someone who seems sad....or to someone who is having a birthday. When you give a gift it comes from you personally; it is from you acting a part, motivated for your own reasons.
To give a pledge of support implies an obligation. Support is when you fulfill a past or current obligation. It is giving a child an allowance or paying money to a family member in need. A pledge is the fulfillment and encouragement of an obligation for the future. This is like a donation to the diabetes association, or the legal defense fund. When you give, you expect an extension of your interests, needs, or will. You can't research diabetes, but that charity can. You can't defend religious freedom legally, but the legal defense fund can. So when you give by pledging, you are acting as a part of a larger relationship or enterprise. 1% to Infinity is a form of pledge that can expand your personal prosperity. It also takes prosperity beyond the individual by pledging from a company or organization. Then the identity and energy of that business is also expanded. Giving in this way expands the impact of the company and makes each part of the work we do have more impact and meaning. 1% to Infinity b
uilds a future and it builds the prosperous projection of the company.
To tithe is to give non-personally or transpersonally. It is an act of acknowledgement or gratitude to the totality. The totality is your consciousness, your essence, your spiritual being. There is no obligation implied. Once it is given, the result is open. This is because the response is not personal: it comes from the total consciousness, and the total situation. This is why in the 25th Pauri of Japji the Guru says, "Our needs are known only to Him and He alone fulfills them." When we tithe we are relating beyond what we can control, beyond what we can negotiate, and beyond what the ego can construct. This is why a tithe of 10% is set by Guru, and why Gurudakshina is set for you. If you set it yourself, the giving would not take you beyond your own effort or your own ego. It would only be a gift without the opportunity to sacrifice, trust and experience the innocence of mind and sacredness of Self. A tithe to Gurudakshina confirms within your own mind the right and reality of the total consciou
sness to act freely on and within you. This confirmation is twofold; inner reality and outer totality. When both are confirmed, you have an established merger with the total totality of consciousness.
The inner totality is subtle, and unseen. It is represented by inner commitment to the Unseen. Dharmically, this is "Dasvandh." We give to a total fund at a percentage that is scriptural and lawful. Dasvandh is given out of gratitude for what we have already been given - life, choice, and teachings. It is incorrect to think that you give Dasvandh in order to get
100% return! That is mercantile support, like in business. Dasvandh clears the channels by opening the relationship to the unknown through gratitude. The outer totality is concrete and seen. It is represented by Gurudakshina and "bheta." Gurudakshina is a giving to the lineage of teachers in the Golden Chain, and the last is direct personal giving to a teacher who represents that same infinity. When you give in this way it is freely given and the teacher or representatives of that lineage direct the use of it. It is beyond your control.
Keep these three categories straight as the Guru instructs and your mind will be clear and prepared for the flow of prosperity that always comes as you align your mind with the Guru's.
A clear, direct relationship to giving and to money is part of the Guru's teaching. Embedding this in our mental assessments and choices opens the flow of prosperity. It allows us to contribute appropriately freely, to support each other, and to further our many Dharmic projects.
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"My experience with the 1% program is that the more I give, the more it comes back to me."
Siri Vishnu Singh Khalsa
Owner, Khalsa Construction
"In 1993 I began a practice of giving Gurudakshina before I taught and have found that when I live to this practice, my classes are more powerful and attendance increases."
H.K. Khalsa
"Two days after I mailed the check to Dasvandh, a relative called me...offered to send six times the amount I had just sent to the Guru. What a miracle!"
Hari Mandir Kaur Khalsa