I Blog Poetry and Prose

Selflessness and Human Nature

Istiqlál (Independence), 19 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Friday, May 15, 2020

FORUM

30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS  (13+) WDC's Longest Running Blog Competition - Hiatus #1786069 by Fivesixer

PROMPT May 15th

Write about a time when you or someone you know acted selflessly. What was the motivation and what were the results?

Selflessness, like selfishness, is part of the duality of human nature. Selflessness is a spiritual attribute, a characteristic of the soul, while selfishness is an attribute of the ego. From the time we are born until the time the physical body dies, we practice these two characteristics. When we practice selflessness strengthen this characteristic and our souls ability to overcome our egos' selfishness. We have many examples in our lives of people practicing selflessness. Some of these examples come from our parents, and some from first responders. We also have examples from the founders of religions such as Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha'u'llah (to name just a few).

One of the most selfless act anyone can perform, is going into a burning or collapsing building to save the life of a stranger. A selfless act I witnessed in my own life, was my mother working nights and swing shift to feed four hungry and, sometimes, selfish children. All acts of selflessness bring some type of reward, which doesn't make the act less selfless. Indeed every act a human being performs on the material plane brings some type of reward. Sometimes we know what the reward is and sometimes we have to wait until the soul and body separate at the moment of physical death to find out the reward. For some human beings the selfless act is more important than the reward, and for others the reward is the most important part of the act. Each human being must look at their own motivations and be honest with themselves to determine whether the selfless act is more important or the reward.