 The Triangle Of Giving  |
The Triangle of Giving
Gurucharan Singh Khalsa Ph. D.
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 said this 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 painful 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 triangles of giving comes directly from the relations between body, mind and spirit.
So a gift is a personal act. The Guru call 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.
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, yours 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 God, Guru, or scripture and why Gurudakshina is set by the teacher. 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 or Gurudakshina confirms within your own mind the right and reality of the total consciousness to act freely on and within you. This confirmation is twofold; inner totality 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 "Das Vandh." We give to a total fund at a percentage that is scriptural and lawful. That l0% is out of gratitude for what we have already been given--life, choice and teachings. It's incorrect to think that you give Dasvandh in order to get 100% return! That is either mercantile support, like in business, or it is gambling. 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." It means you show a manifestation outside your feelings.
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.