Ramana Maharshi (1879 – 1950) was a Hindu sage, in fact a Jivanmukta, a liberated sage. Maharshi once said: “Unless one is happy, one cannot bestow happiness on others.”
Maharshi is saying, obviously, that we can only give what we have within us. So if we carry anger, we share anger, if joy then joy, if hate then we share hate, but if love then love, and so on. We can’t give what we don’t have. Love doesn’t come from hate.
To be proactive, Rumi urges us to: “… bestow your love even on your enemies, if you touch their hearts what do you think will happen?” A purpose Jesus taught with his famous instruction to “Love one another”, including our enemies.
Rumi begs the question, what will happen if we do love our enemies? It’s simply rhetorical, the answer is clear, they will, over time, learn to love. I can see that example in so many people I have had the privilege of meeting and befriending, but also in those who have become known for their acts of selfless love – Martin Luther King Jnr., Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks, Ghandi, Malala, Maximillian Kolbe, Oscar Schindler, Bernadette Devlin, Mandella, Fred Hollows, or this guy:- Doc Hendley, who by his own description is but a humble bartender who had a vision to do something about water.
Hendley isn’t a sports star, or rock star, or movie star, just an ordinary guy bestowing clean water on those in dire need. While in reality he is also bestowing his love and compassion. He got angry hearing about the water crisis in the world, but he translated that anger into positive action (rather than reaction) and fifteen years on there’s a process for helping to provide clean water in the Sudan.
Doc Hendley is a great example to us, that we too, humble as we are, can bestow our love, our happiness, our joy, compassion … on others in meaningful ways. Where I live a local girl, Bella Burgmeister has become an author, motivational speaker, and project initiator, not bad for someone who is eleven. Bella has written on the impact of global warming in her book “Bella’s challenge” and she has iniated a project in our community by convincing city council to invest in thirty lockers for homeless people, a fantastic project. Bella has bestowed her passion and energy and love on our community for the benefit of all.
We can all do something, we can all bestow our love in some way, great or small.
Heartless is my world my wallet is cold, empty warm is my embrace © Paul Cannon
Paul,
pvcann.com
parallax 
Love this post for the message it conveys! And I’m a Rumi fan of course, besides Neruda 😍
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Ah yes, Neruda, fabulous. We share some great poets. I really appreciate your comment.
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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🙂
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Great message. We can all make a difference, Doc Hendley and Bella are evidence of that.
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Yes, two wonderful people, inspires me. Thanks for reflecting on this too.
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wonderful message eloquently portrayed 🙂
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You are very kind, thanks Kate. 🙂
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always a pleasure Paul 🙂
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🙂
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http://www.gandurtour.com
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Yes, that is so true we cannot give what we don’t have.and Love begets Love.
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Yes it grows, thanks Megha, I appreciate your comment.
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Here is the wonderful thing about giving love – even to the “hedgehogs.” You experience it yourself. I really appreciate what you shared today. Thank you.
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Thanks for that, much appreciated.
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Love even enemies is quiet possible, being happy is difficult. Even in the Himalayas, I couldn’t find one. Yes, they’ve all the other qualities, including love, caring etc. Being happy even for one hour is a dream. Like this.
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Interesting observation, I hadn’t thought to look into the happiness angle in depth, thank you for that.
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Very true…. For us to spread happiness, we should be happy from within ♥
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Absolutely
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love this post. It’s amazing how awesome “ordinary” people can be.
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Many thanks, appreciate the comment very much
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Words of wisdom here
>
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Kind words, thank you 🙂
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True words of a great person. “Unless one is happy, one cannot bestow happiness on others”
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Exactly
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A law of life. The best!
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Absolutely agree 🙂
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😊
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