Kahlil Gibran: The Prophet, "On Giving"

You give but little (and receive less dharma) when you give of your (material) possessions.

It is when you give of yourself (through bodhichitta, sacrificing your last drop of blood for suffering humanity) that you truly give.

For what are your (material and psychological) possessions (your vanity, pride, self-esteem, social prestige, and position) but things you keep (out of attachment and identification) and guard (defend) for fear you may need them tomorrow (since you dread the uncertainties of both life and death)?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog (the terrified intellectual animal) burying bones (securities, investments, projects, and commitments that spiritually are but refuse) in the trackless sand (life's impermanence) as he follows the pilgrims (solar initiates) to the holy city (the heavenly ירושלים Jerusalem, the Chakra Sahasrara or Church of Laodicea)?

And what is fear of need but need itself (for when afflicted by the disease of "more," always striving to acquire more impressions, are we not truly impoverished in soul)?

Is not dread of thirst (hunger, starvation, ordeals, and pains) when your well is full (with the sexual creative waters of transmutation) the thirst that is unquenchable (because we squander the energies of sexual alchemy in futile apprehensions)?

There are those who give little (with genuine selflessness) of the much (ego) which they have―and they give it for recognition (among spiritual communities) and their hidden (egotistical) desire makes their gifts unwholesome (before divinity, as Cain's offerings were compared to Abel's).

And there are those who have little and give it all (as humble initiates in the Great Work).

These are the believers in life (alchemists who know how to be through the power of love, worshiping חי Chai, life, the Holy Spirit) and the bounty of life (for all dharma emerges through the Gnostic mysteries of chastity), and their coffer is never empty (due to the rights of Canchorrita and the rigors of probationism).

There are those who give with joy (Arcanum 19: Inspiration), and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain (Arcanum 9: The Hermit), and that pain is their baptism (entrance into initiation).

And there are those who give (sacrifice for humanity) and know not pain in giving (for they are not identified with the mind), nor do they seek joy (rewards or recognition), nor give with mindfulness of virtue (attachments towards the Kabbalistic pillar of Mercy);

They give as in yonder valley (the worlds of Klipoth) the myrtle breathes its (chaste) fragrance (of sexual transmutation) into (the Abstract Absolute) space (for the greatest masters exude the exotic and rare perfume of humility even from within the depths of the greatest suffering).

Through the hands (ידיים Iodim, singular יד Iod, the bodhisattva or terrestrial personality) of such as these (Innermost masters) God (the Intimate Christ) speaks, and from behind their (purified) eyes (of דעת Da'ath) He smiles upon the earth (Malkuth).

It is well to give when asked (out of ethics, compassion, and Shravakayana teachings), but it is better to give unasked (through the Mahayana), through (intuitive) understanding (the diamond vehicle of supreme tantra);

And to the open-handed (Apostolate of the twelfth arcanum) the search for one who shall receive (the Gnostic teachings) is joy greater than giving (for in the words of Friedrich Nietzsche in Thus Spoke Zarathustra: "Which of us has to be thankful? Should not the giver be thankful that the receiver received? Is not giving a need? Is not receiving mercy?).

And is there aught you would withhold? (due to bodhichitta and the complete sacrifice of yourself, for as Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Aquarian Message: "If you are willing to give the last drop of blood for the love of this suffering humanity, then you are one of us. Whosoever wants to reach the altar of initiation must transform the self into the immolated lamb upon the altar of supreme sacrifice").

All you have (materially received due to return, recurrence, transmigration, and karma) shall some day be given (since the only certainty is that life is transient);

Therefore give now (voluntarily through initiation), that the season of giving (the eternal beatitude of Christic compassion) may be yours (here and now) and not your inheritors' (those who will later walk the spiritual path after your time has eclipsed).

You often say, "I would give (the Gnostic teachings), but only to the deserving (to those candidates who have proven their worth)."

The trees (of Life and Knowledge) in your orchard (your soul and spirit) say not so, nor the flocks (of students and initiates) in your pasture (esoteric school).

They give (sacrifice for humanity) that they may live (through spiritual blessings and inner mystical experiences from divinity), for to withhold is to perish ("For to every one who has [spiritual development] will more be given, and he will have abundance [dharmic blessing]; but from him who has not [who lacks compassion and inner psychological work], even what he has will be taken away" Matthew 25:29).

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights (the cycles of fortune's retributive wheel within Arcanum 10), is worthy of all else from you (since Aquarian charity demands we give this knowledge to those who least deserve it, and not stint due to Piscean conservatism).

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life (the Abstract Absolute Space, the אין Ain, אין סוף Ain Soph, אין סוף אור Ain Soph Aur) deserves to fill his cup from your little stream (of direct knowledge and mystical experiences).

And what desert (wilderness of initiation, בַּמִּדְבָּר be'midbar) greater shall there be, than that which lies in the (lion of Judah's) courage (in the three spiritual metamorphoses) and the confidence (discrimination, zeal, and certainty), nay the charity, of receiving (the doctrine with an open mind and heart)?

And who are you that men (solar initiates) should rend their bosom and unveil their pride (debase themselves before you), that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed (for the masters of humanity are worth less than the ashes of a cigarette)?

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver (through the three factors of spiritual revolution), and an instrument of giving (through meditation).

For in truth it is life that gives unto life while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness (الشاهد al-Shahid).

And you receivers (gnostic students)―and you are all receivers―assume no weight of gratitude (psychological attachments and dependence) lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him (the instructor) who gives (you Gnosis).

Rather rise together (upon the path of initiation) with the giver on his gifts (spiritual teachings) as on wings (of Ida and Pingala: the two witnesses that take you to the superior worlds);

For to be overmindful of your (karmic) debt, is to doubt his (solar) generosity who has the freehearted earth for (divine) mother, and God for (divine) father.

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