Inspiring the Altruistic Moment

About

Rekindle Your Courage to Care

Inspiring

Calling your calling

Traditionally, “inspiration” is understood to be a form of persuasion; a means used to get others to either do something particular or become a certain kind of person. As far as (i)am is concerned, there is no attempt to criticize, judge, suggest, advise or guide you in any way. Rather, this website is intended to inspire you to “awaken”* the innate knowledge of your own perfect way back to living as your True Self; to merely shine a light upon that road – a path that only you can tread.

Indeed, there is no “better way” to re-enliven your potential to live as a Human Being, and no one else can ever effectively tell you what to do or how to do it in order to re-actualize that potential. And yet, there are certain ideals and practices that others have used to attain Peace-full results; ideals that might bring you closer to experiencing true Inner Peace, and practices that might enable you to live more powerfully.

And this is why this website uses the term “inspiring” in its title; wishing not to lead you anywhere, but rather to “have an exalting effect upon”* the path you are already treading. I wish not to teach you anything new, but merely to remind you of what you already know; thereby “stimulating [you] to creative activity.”* For it is only the self-sought Soul that is re-actualized, and it only is the self-chosen road that is truly traversed.

So, happy trails, my Friends …

Happy trails in-deed!

*definition of “inspiring”, from Webster’s New International Unabridged Dictionary (1986)

Altruistic

Genuinely Generous Giving

Traditionally, “giving” refers to the act of transferring something from one person to another, where the giver “loses” the given item and the receiver “gains” the same. Believing this, many people spend enormous amounts of energy futilely striving to maintain a “balance” of give and take in their lives; to make sure they are not “unfairly used” by others; to obtain those things in life to which they feel entitled. Indeed, it is the blind adherence to this philosophy that forms the foundation of much of the world’s suffering, and it is this philosophy that reflects the opposite of (i)am’s understanding of “altruism”. Where society in general focuses on both giving and receiving, (i)am centers its focus upon giving to others selflessly, with no thought of receiving anything at all in return.

While it is not for me to encourage you to practice giving in any certain manner, it is my intention to re-mind you how powerful your opportunities to give can become. The most potent generous act is the one that gives more than is expected, without a desire for reimbursement, in times of personal dis-ease and to those deemed “least deserving.” Giving more than is expected assures that your generosity will not be tainted by others’ hopes or feelings of entitlement. Giving without the desire for personal reward assures that your generosity will be witnessed as such. And giving in times of personal distress to those deemed “least deserving” radically enhances the effectiveness of that generosity – because the more difficult an act is to engage, the more powerful it becomes.

While it is not required that you perfectly embody (i)am’s definition of giving to experience its benefits, the more perfectly your actions reflect this standard, the more effective your giving will become — and the more Inner Peace you will experience as a result. This is the embodiment of (i)am’s pure altruism; an “uncalculated devotion to others’ interests”* available to you in every instant of your life.

*definition of “altruistic”, from Webster’s New International Unabridged Dictionary (1986)

Moment

Being Here, Now

Initially, while your lifetime may seem to be a linear stream of time composed of a certain number of years (or months, or days, or minutes, or seconds), in actuality it is composed of millions upon millions of separate moments; each interrelated and yet completely independent from one another. Each second of our lives is viable in and of itself; “an instant in the present time”*, and as such does not need to be compared to the consequences of your past choices or the worries over your future ones.

Focusing on your past leads to either regret over what should have happened or hope for a repeat of what did; both of which dis-empower the choices available to you in your present moment. Similarly, focusing on your future leads either to worry over pain that might come or an eventual disappointment over the joys that arrive differently than those hoped for. And both of these sap the power from your present time as well. On the other hand, if you engage each moment as an independent blessing (while acting for the betterment of others), your life becomes powerful and you “tend to produce motion about an axis”*– the axis that is your Soul.

Your conscience only truly �lives� when actualized in the Here&Now. Joy only exists when actualized in the Here&Now. Peace only thrives when embodied in the Here&Now. And the Here&Now can only be purely enlivened when regret, fear, nostalgia, yearning, hope and expectation are replaced by acts of courageous kindness. It is then and only then that your life’s moments become “timeless points of choice where [you] freely enact [your] relationship to eternity,”* and thereby Joy-fully experience the Inner Peace that comes when you are acting selflessly for others without care or worry.

Fortunately, to experience such Bliss, it is not required that you continually choose this level of awareness. It is only necessary that you do so for one instant at a time; repeating that choice as often as you wish.

*these definitions of “moment”, from Webster’s New International Unabridged Dictionary (1986)