It's almost Christmas,

And along with that comes the usual fretting of.

OMG, what should I get him?
AND HIM!? AND HIM??? AND HIM?!?!?!?!

Atleast the usual, what am I gonna get for my girlfriend, is a thing of the past. xD

But well, since it's the season to be giving. Let's talk about giving. With a PRACTICAL and MORALLY TRUE stand point. And along with it, comes with a story.

This is a story, that's been converted from Chinese to English, that I'd like to share with all of you reading my blog! That's been shared with me by a good friend by the name called Kee Han Wen. A Buddhist enthusiast. (Sorry if I tweaked the story a little, hope the point of the story is still the same)

~~~

Once, there was a rich emperor, he had already conquered the lands for many years, and all the riches and gold, were at his expense, he had killed many, some maybe for reason, but some probably by mistake.

He was getting on with age, and it suddenly struck him, oh no, I've killed so many people, what if I go to hell? He was lost, and thus, summoned an old venerable by his side, and asked for advice.

"Stop your evil ways and do good" Said the Venerable.

And straight away, he summoned the greatest craftsmans from around the country, and the greatest builders in the country. They gathered, and the Emperor, rolled out a map of a country, and pointed, I want a temple made of GOLD, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, oh and also here, here here here and here!

The craftsmans and builders, started work immediately, and before the emperor passed on, all the temples were built, and the emperor thought to himself, ah, I'm sure going up to heaven right now. And he lied on his bed that night, and as quiet as the night, he passed on.

He went on to his afterlife, but what he saw, was to his utmost surprise, he is in the pits of hell, and upon reaching his turn to 'check-in' to hell, he asked the Keeper of Hell.

"Am I in the wrong place? I just built 10temples made of gold, before I passed on!"

And that was when he learnt, that it wasn't really, about giving, and doing good, and everything. It's about the intention that came along with it. With giving, our intentions should always be good, never to harm, never to implicate.

While giving, if intentions was of a motive.

You are not giving the right way.

~~~

But, I argued, I've always argued about this, about giving and about intention, who are we to judge, what intentions are right or wrong?

And who are we, to give, selflessly?

To me,

There'll only be 1 Buddha, that would cut his flesh to feed the eagle.
There'll only be 1 Jesus, that would be pinned on the cross to die for the sins of the people.
There'll only be 1 Mother Theresa who would lay down her life for the sick
There'll only be 1 Ghandi who speaks of peace, like it's a war by itself.

Are we anything close to them?

I'd tell myself, no way, I'm not even as CARING as 1 of their hair.

So my personal thought?

Don't waste time on selfless giving, or attaining selfless giving, we're never that sort, that would be able to do that.

But what we humans are capable of doing, is asking for the least in return. Okaye, if that's too cheem, let me break it down.

It's giving, to make people happy, and expect what's coming your way, to only make you content.

If you get more, good for you, if you get less, quit whining. ;)

~~~

GoodNight's World.
Got a b'day party to attend to.
Sorry for have abandoned you the past couple days.
Don't worry, I'm back.
Love love.

Yours Lovingly,
Yiliang.