Give Back to Your Community

One of the Seven Principles of Mindfulness in Healing is to give back to your community when you are ready. This is important for two reasons. The first reason is that a gift of service to your community has the benefit of getting you out of yourself long enough to serve others. This releases tension and gets your mind off of your problems or situation.

The second reason is that service is an act of gratitude and thanksgiving. Your community has supported you in so may ways that it is impossible to list them all. Your community has supplied you with so many gifts that you take for granted. Who supplies the water that you drink or you wash with? Who supplies the gas or electricity for the oven or stove that cooks your food? Of course you pay for these, but your quality of life without them would be limited.

Unconditional Service | March 6, 2015 Selfless service brings balance to your practice. Since it engages the body, it balances the tendency we have to think and theorize rather than act. By channeling your energy into acts of service, you transform the ideal into the real. – Shinso Ito, “Unconditional Service” Mindful Eating in Plum Village | Photo by Jerome Freedman 2000

How will you now give back to your community? What acts of generosity have you performed in the last three days? What are you grateful for this minute? Please share.

Books by Shinso Ito

Shinjo: Reflections by Shinjo Ito Shinjo: Reflections is a collection of gems drawn from Master Shinjo Ito’s wealth of insight and experience. They offer us not only a glimpse into the mind of a deeply awakened master, but also a practical set of teachings on how to turn daily challenges into a path of self-discovery and genuine awa… [Read More…]