Rotary Club invited Swamiji as Chief Guest for their annual event. This year’s goal for Rotary Club is ‘మైత్రి’ / ‘Friendship’.
When one truly wants to achieve ever-lasting friendship, one must expand their ‘self’ to include their ‘friends’. The more you include in your‘self’, the more you are loved. This is very evident in everyday life. A child first considers their body to be their ‘self’. Later the child grows to a teenager, and begins to include his friends as part of ‘himself’. As he or she grows, the self should expand and include all beings as part of their self. Ultimately, isn’t everything and everyone part of one Supreme entity? So, there is an essential connection between all of us.
Until one understands how to increase the scope of selfishness in practice, it becomes impossible to make ‘మైత్రి’ / ‘Friendship’ that flourishes.
People say, ‘Don’t be selfish’. It is not practical. Everyone is selfish. It is the nature of a being. Every being must feel that something is theirs, otherwise – they cannot work towards keeping that somethingsafe and happy. So, the only way to be selfish and still be useful to the society is to expand and include everyone into their ‘self’.
Why should anyone do this? It is because we are much more capable than just eating and spending money on ourselves. If we do not capitalise on our abilities to the max, then we may not be given the opportunity to do that noble job ever. Sooner or later, one will get suffocated to be limited in satisfying only their bodily needs!
– From the discourse of Sri ChinnaJeeyarSwamiji
– 2nd Feb 2019, Rotary Club
Elaborate version of the topic can be read here.
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” Only when one understands how to increase the scope of selfishness in practice, it becomes impossible to make ‘మైత్రి’ / ‘Friendship’ that flourishes.” Should this not read: “Until when one understands how to increase the scope of selfishness in practice, it becomes impossible to make ‘మైత్రి’ / ‘Friendship’ that flourishes.” Or “Only when one understands how to increase the scope of selfishness in practice, it becomes possible to make ‘మైత్రి’ / ‘Friendship’ that flourishes.”?
Yes, thank you !