“Giving is the highest expression of potency. In the very act of giving, I experience my strength, my wealth, my power. This experience of heightened vitality and potency fills me with joy. I experience myself as overflowing, spending, alive, and hence as joyous. Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness.”

― Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving

Giving is the last sub-pillar under Great Wealth. You might wonder isn’t the act of giving something contrary to great wealth? If you give something, how will you become wealthier? In this chapter, we are going to understand this juxtaposition. Very often Giving is considered an act of charity, an exalted gesture, transactional when the intent is to receive something (more often of a higher perceived value) in return, or it is also considered to be a sign of submissiveness (very often we may have overheard this conversation or said these words ourselves “Why do you “Give in” so often to his/ her demands?) So Giving has a huge spectrum, at one end is the capitalist, the banker, the moneylender, the businessman who gives with his eyes set on the ROI (return on investment) and at the other end is the martyr, the solider, the revolutionary, the suicide bomber who has been brainwashed into truly believing that giving one’s life for a cause is the greatest act of giving. 

Whatever the reason maybe, I am going to make a very audacious statement here. Giving is one of the most selfish acts we can undertake. Selfishness is projected in a bad light by many people, Gurus, Evangelists and Institutions for their own reasons. However I would like to say very blatantly, Selfishness is also one of the cornerstones of Mahatman. We believe that a person can only be selfless (for want of a better word) if he or she is selfish. I would once again wish to reiterate the Aeroplane example. The cabin crew of any Airlines spews standard instructions before the take-off. They make one very valid point. When the Oxygen masks drop down due to change in air pressure, make sure to put your own mask on, before you help others with their masks. A person has to help himself or herself before they venture to be of assistance to others. Giving can only happen from a position of power, not from a position of weakness. The very concept of giving is about power. The very concept of giving is about being rich. 

 

The person who just keeps hoarding, and keeps fretting over losing something is a poor person, regardless of his affluence. The person who has the willingness to give of himself to others is the one who is truly rich. However, let us now examine LOVE the greatest act of giving; the giving of oneself. The most precious and coveted thing that a person can give another is not money or fame or power, but one’s own life. This is not to say that the person relinquishes or forfeits his life for the other person. The person gives wholeheartedly the essence of what is alive in him, the sum total of his emotions, the hopes, the dreams, the scars and the pains. There is no giving in order to receive; the giving is for the sake of it, an act of pure joy. 

Generosity, Altruism, and Philanthropy have been around for a long time. It is often glorified in the annals of history as something lofty, exalted, and shown in a sacrificial light. But is Generosity really any kind of sacrifice? Scientific studies have proven that Generosity boosts overall well-being. Following are the benefits of Generosity- 

1. It fosters better health. Generosity has been proven to improve blood pressure and at the same time reduces the likelihood of anxiety and dementia.
2. Generosity reduces stress- Studies have shown that stinginess is connected with higher levels of cortisol (Stress hormone). Being generous helps to alleviate this stress. 
3. Generosity curbs depression- Giving our time, efforts or wealth for a cause, fills us with a renewed sense of purpose. This helps in fighting and curbing depression. 
4. Generosity leads to a longer life- According to studies conducted by university of buffalo, even a small act like babysitting for someone for free or helping them with their groceries is directly linked to contributing to increase in life span. It has been proven that people who volunteer for good causes, have a lower mortality rate than people who do not. 
5. Generosity strengthens marriage- What is applicable in the social sphere is also relevant in the personal sphere. Small selfless acts towards your partner help you feel better, wiser and joyful.
6. Generosity fosters deeper friendships- Giving helps us to build better friendships. Giving perpetuates the need in us to love others. It makes us perceive others in a favourable lights and adds to a sense of community building. 
7. Generosity makes us successful- Did you know that Warren Buffet gives away around 70% of his income every year! Does that make him poorer? Actually his net worth has increased by approximately 10 billion dollars every year. 
8. There are two kinds of Generosity- Targeted Generosity and untargeted Generosity. Untargeted Generosity is when we donate towards certain causes, but beyond that we would not know how our money helped someone. Targeted Generosity is when we give specifically to people who we know need our help and we are more likely to know how our help turned out for them. 
9. In a scientific study that researched a sample of people who gave generously the Brain imaging results showed generosity increased activity in two areas of the brain linked to altruism, the septal area and the ventral striatum, which are also linked to parents caring for their young in humans and other mammals. The ventral striatum is best known as a key part of the brain’s “reward system,” central to all achieving, learning and loving (along with the dark side of reward seeking: compulsions and addictions).
10. Though most of the neurological studies associated with Generosity are correlational in nature, one thing that has emerged very strongly is that it is that Generosity affects our brains in ways which are conducive to a consistently better mental health. 

Giving is an act of selfishness, we do it for ourselves. People often get sentimental about the whole process of being selfless. There is this whole propaganda by religious institutions which also spills over as a powerful motif in literature and movies. There have been movies where lovers committing suicide has been glorified in an exalted light. This has led to a spate of suicides. So much damaging indoctrination has been happening around for centuries that take away the focus from self-interest to the glorification of sacrifice. Mahatman believes that the focus should first and foremost be on self. Nature itself endorses selfishness in the interest of survival. Survival instinct which is so predominantly strong has been diluted by socio-cultural factors. If you cannot swim and if you see someone drowning then you should not jump into the water in a foolhardy emotional effort to save the person. You will not only be able to save the person but you will end up drowning yourself. The Mahatman way of thinking is, you should first focus on your wellbeing that will also bring clarity in terms of the other ways in which you can save the person. Perhaps you could shout for help or you could toss a life jacket into the water if there is one around. People have a common misconception that some emotions are an embodiment of sacrifice for example the military of a country. People normally tend to believe that a soldier is primarily meant to lay down his life for the country. But that is not the case. In the defence forces it is instilled in every solider that they must take care of themselves first, then their team and so on. Soldiers are meant to fight and save, not to die. They are supposed to emerge victorious and alive. 

Heaven’s gate was an American UFO religious millenarian cult founded in 1974 by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. In October 1996, 39 members of the clan rented a large home which they called the Monastery and purchased an alien abduction insurance. After asserting that a comet was trailing Hale-Bopp and that this event would represent the closure to Heaven’s gate, Applewhite persuaded 38 people in the monastery to prepare for ritual suicide so that their souls could board the supposed craft. Applewhite believed that their souls would be taken to another level of existence above human. The 38 commune members, 21 women and18 men between the ages of 26 and 72, died in three groups over three successive days, with remaining participants cleaning up after each prior group’s death. After the news of these mass suicides went viral, the discoverer of the comet Alan Hale was drawn into the story. Dr. Hale discussed the scientific significance and popular lore of comets and gave a personal account of his discovery. He then lambasted the combination of scientific illiteracy, wilful delusions, a radio talk-show’s deception about an imaginary spacecraft following the comet, and a cult’s bizarre yearnings for ascending to another level of existence that led to the Heaven’s Gate mass suicides. Hale said “we are probably going to have some suicides as a result of this comet.’ The sad part is that I was really not surprised. Comets are lovely objects, but they don’t have apocalyptic significance. We must use our minds, our reason”

That is the point we are trying to draw home- we must use our minds, our reason and not render ourselves vulnerable to such master manipulators who are themselves delusional and pull many others into their fray.  This vulnerability is taken advantage of in so many situations. Suicide bombers are brainwashed to believe that their sacrifice will covet them a grandiose afterlife. Or they are indoctrinated to believe how glorified it is to die for a cause. Such brainwashing totally conflicts the life-affirming survival instinct that biology and nature have instilled in us for millions of years. Selfishness is a great source of personal strength. There are master manipulators out there who will use all machinations possible to exploit our vulnerabilities. We have to steer clear of such manipulators, no matter how convincing or altruistic their veneer. We have to give with compassion. Compassion is a source of immense power. No one can mess with a compassionate person. 

Giving is an act which is about power. We should feel like a King when we give. It is ok to feel gloated about our generosity. This comes from self-love. We should love ourselves so abundantly that it just spills over to others. And this very act becomes the giving. We can only give effortlessly when we are full to the brim and that is why we must be full to the brim. Empty vessels have nothing to share except emptiness. My mentor Tony Robbins wrote a book called Money. This book is like a bible on money and he spent millions of dollars on that project. This book topped the bestseller list for months and yet he made it available in the public domain, wholeheartedly, as he wanted the people to be money wise and save themselves from innumerable and Ponzi schemes. He made a very important pithy statement “You want to give, only if you have” Before building boats for other people you must make sure to seal all the leaks in your own vessel. You cannot be building boats for others while you pail out waters by the bucketful in a bid to save yourself from drowning. 

Sentimentality is the wind that will take you into the storm of sacrifice and destruction. You must take that wind out of your sails and obliterate and annihilate the kick that comes from it, that false thrill which leads to nowhere, you must nip it in the bud. Be selfish, be self-interested, give from the position of power and pride. Give like a Mahatman, this Giving will make you healthier, wealthier and wiser. 

So give generously, give magnanimously and give without prejudice. As Kahlil Gibran rightly says in his Prophet about the act of giving– “You often say; I would give, but only to the deserving, the trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture. Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and nights is worthy of all else from you. And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving. For in truth it is life that gives unto life-while you, who deem yourself a giver, is but a witness”

Big bang of Give-

1. Giving is the highest expression of strength, wealth and power
2. Giving should be an act of selfishness. 
3. Give yourself first before you give others.
4. Generosity is a powerful antidote against anxiety and depression
5. Neurological studies have proven that the act of giving is conducive to a better mental health
6. Being selfless is a sentimental feeling which makes you vulnerable to indoctrination and exploitation (as in the case of suicide bombers) 
7. Use your mind, your reason while giving.
8. Give with compassion
9. While giving we should feel like a King. It is ok to take pride in our giving. 
10. Give without prejudice

Giving is innately linked to selfishness and self-interest. Refer to the chapter on Selfishness for a deeper understanding of this process of giving and how it should correlate to the philosophy of Mahatman.