MARCH NEWSLETTER

GIVING AND RECEIVING "He that will only Give, and not Receive, enslaves the Person whom he would Relieve." Sir Samuel Tuke My mother was a giver. She was one of those people who, if you said you liked her sweater she'd take it off and hand it to you, literally. And she gave with such joy! Her eyes would light up like a child at Christmas when she gave a gift. I was often the recipient of this joyful giving so it was natural for me to want to joyfully give back to my mother. The problem was that she had a hard time RECEIVING. Everywhere she encountered people, on a bus, in her home at a gathering, these people felt an immediate love for my generous, unconditionally loving mother. But she had a hard time letting herself feel this love. It wasn't until she was on her deathbed that I was able to give to her as fully as she had given to me all my life. I took her into my home for the last week of her life and, with the help of hospice, tenderly saw to all her needs just as she had seen to my needs when I was in her care. Now is the season of giving and RECEIVING. We are all aware of the spiritual practice of giving. There are many wonderful teachings given by the Buddha and other transcendent beings on this subject. In Pali the word for generosity is Dana. The many forms of Dana are illuminated in great detail in the suttas. Giving is an essential spiritual practice but I am writing to and for mothers. It is our nature to give, to give our time, our hearts, our energy and our worldly goods. For me to talk to mothers about giving is preaching to the choir. Although we mothers are very good at giving we are not always so good at RECEIVING. In the Western culture we sometimes feel like we are being selfish when we receive, and as mothers we are trained not to think of ourselves. Giving and RECEIVING form a loop, a circuit or energy. Both are needed for energy to flow freely in our lives. When we give we are in control, we are the ones doing the giving and we get to choose how much, when and where. When we receive we are at the mercy of the giver. They can choose to stop giving and they can choose how much to give or not give. Learning the art of RECEIVING is learning how to be open to whatever the moment holds, open to choiceless awareness. When we allow ourselves to receive what is given it opens up the possibility for greater abundance in our lives, abundance of love, of material good, of joy and of health. Opening up to RECEIVING gives our loved ones the opportunity to practice generosity. It gifts them with the power and opportunity to have that wonderful heart opening experience of making us fill with joy. We empower those around us by fully RECEIVING their gifts, whether the gift be a smile, a kind word or a present. So this December I invite all you generous loving mothers to open up to the joy of RECEIVING. To teach the joy of generosity to those around us by how we receive their gifts. To allow life to pour through us in a great flow of gratitude as we find more and more opportunities to appreciate the gifts given every day. PRACTICE; Look for opportunities to fully receive this month. Watch closely to see the gifts we are being given each day and take the time to give thanks wholeheartedly, with our eyes, our words and with our thoughts. Open up wide to each present and really let the abundance of good in our lives to nourish us deeply. Take in, Inhale.

Jacqueline