{"id":474,"date":"2019-01-08T04:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T10:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/?p=474"},"modified":"2021-05-04T22:47:22","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T04:47:22","slug":"january-8-generosity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/january-8-generosity\/","title":{"rendered":"January 8 &#8211; Generosity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear Friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generosity is a favorite topic of mine. In studying and practicing generosity, I&#8217;ve learned much about qualities of the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generosity is so much more than just a monetary exchange or giving a gift. There are many ways to give that we may already be doing &#8211; through our presence, and the way we are in the world. Generosity is a demonstration of the power of human connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sylvia Boorstein writes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Generous acts are a relief because they connect. They are always in relationship. They can&#8217;t be isolating. And generous acts don&#8217;t require some <em>thing<\/em> to give away. &#8230; including&#8212;in addition to material possessions&#8212;companionship, comfort, encouragement, and care.<\/p><cite><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sylviaboorstein.com\/books\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" label=\"Pay\u00a0Attention,\u00a0For\u00a0Goodness&#039;\u00a0Sake (opens in a new tab)\">Pay\u00a0Attention,\u00a0For\u00a0Goodness&#8217;\u00a0Sake<\/a><\/em>, page 50<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christina Feldman describes that generosity is a quality of kindness that is encompassed in mett\u0101. Generosity can be an antidote to fear &#8211; fear of loss and deprivation, and to greed. (page 33) She continues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>With metta we come to understand that fear and greed are experiences of profound suffering, not to be condemned or judged but to be befriended and understood. They are deeply embedded emotional habit patterns; they can be dissolved with generosity.<\/p><cite>page 34<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As we extend our wishes for well-being beyond ourselves, it is common to start with someone easy. Someone who inspired us, supported us, cared for us, if only for a moment. Someone who embodied generosity. Recalling this being and their generosity, our hearts can remember goodness &#8211; our own and in everyone. We can remember connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sharon Salzberg had a post on her Facebook page a while ago that captures this understanding of interconnection that we cultivate with this practice<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"665\" height=\"665\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ss_lk.jpg?resize=665%2C665&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Lovingkindness is the profound recognition that our lives have something to do with one another, that everyone counts, everyone matters. ~ Sharon Salzberg\" class=\"wp-image-479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ss_lk.jpg?w=960&amp;ssl=1 960w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ss_lk.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ss_lk.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ss_lk.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ss_lk.jpg?resize=665%2C665&amp;ssl=1 665w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\" \/><figcaption>Facebook, November 5, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s a 20-ish minute meditation including mett\u0101 for a benefactor and to self from Andrea Fella:<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/talks\/audio_player\/3213.html\">https:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/talks\/audio_player\/3213.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Practice generosity, practice mett\u0101!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Warm wishes,<br>Andrea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Friends, Generosity is a favorite topic of mine. In studying and practicing generosity, I&#8217;ve learned much about qualities of the heart. Generosity is so much more than just a monetary exchange or giving a gift. There are many ways to give that we may already be doing &#8211; through our presence, and the way we are in\u2026 <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/january-8-generosity\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[162],"tags":[44,137,98,41,48,20],"class_list":["post-474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jan-2019","tag-andrea-fella","tag-christina-feldman","tag-generosity","tag-metta","tag-sharon-salzberg","tag-sylvia-boorstein"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1177,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions\/1177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}