Our lives, the beauty and abundance of the world,
are freely given. We enter the world empty-handed
in the beginning and leave it empty-handed in the end.
No doubt there is pleasure in the finer things of life,
in all that is soft to the touch and pleasing to the eye.
While such things do gratify the senses, they mean nothing
to the soul, unless the Real shines through them.
And the Real only appears when the self disappears.
When one looks beyond one's wants one begins to see
other's needs. Possessions then seem less desirable.
One is less minded to acquire the things of the world
and more inclined to give them away. The more one
gives the freer one feels. The giver receives as much
as the receiver, for giving is a relief to the soul.
It cannot breathe unless the load is lightened.
The biblical phrase, "Cast your bread upon the waters,"
is meant, to entrust a part of your sustenance to the waves
of the divine bounty. Trust in the tide that flows through
all that is an will be.
You will find, in the end, that what you truly possess is
what you have given away.
~ Pir Zia Inayat-Kan
from Saraced Chivalry
