Art of Giving

Each of this silver vessel was given to me, my brother and my sister as birthday gifts by our parents. The thought behind it was that of my mom.
On my last birthday, the 36th, I was fumbling with my gift to open it up. To my surprise it was this silver vessel.
The significance of this silver vessel is that during the times of Buddha, the great one along with his disciples used to go around town asking for alms with such a bowl (not necessarily of silver) and would come back and consume whatever was put in it. They never begged or demanded for anything and never rejected anything given to them.
And with the spread of the Buddhist philosophy, the believers have been using this bowl, named as 'Patra' or 'Golpa' to give alms to the monks.
Now after having explained about what this bowl technically stands for, I come back to the day I got it as a gift from my parents. After I opened it up and had this bowl in my hand it just enlightened upon me that this was one of the greatest gifts that my mom had ever given me. Birthdays gifts usually consist of materialistic stuffs which people like to consume for themselves. But this wasn't something I could consume. Even the consumption of this gift meant 'giving to others'. Whenever I would take it out, it would be for the purpose of giving and it would benefit someone else. It could be a monk or a normal human being.
And one would definitely ask, why does it have to be of silver and so costly? It's another revelation for me. It gave me a sense of understanding that even the most precious of materialistic things can transcend their cosmetic purpose and be used for something more worthwhile. Definitely I'm never going to remake it into a jewellery item or sell it for money. It will only pass on from generation to generation along with the 'Sanskar' of the 'Art of Giving'.
And though I'd been thinking about putting these thoughts of mine into words, today seemed to be the most appropriate. The day of the "Pancha Mahadaan" when everyone in Lalitpur come out of their homes and give five things of basic needs to whoever comes to their door.
My mom proudly took this out today morning and I could feel the excitement in her face that she'd be GIVING today with this silver bowl. And to add to it, her grandson, Arahanta will be accompanying her. And though I won't be there to do the honors, I'm at least happy that the 'Sanskar' is being passed on.
Lastly I thank my late grandmom and my family to have not only maintained and practiced her teachings but also to have enhanced it to a great level in continuing with this culture of the "Art of Giving".

Bhawatu Sabba Mangalam