I was asked a while ago to think about the following quotation:
"The beginning of magnanimity is when man expendeth his wealth on himself, on his family and on the poor among his brethren in his Faith."
after doing it for a while, I have more questions than answers... the quotation is deceptively simple, but very difficult to grasp.
to start with, it is easy to acknowledge that being magnanimous is good. that also means that expending wealth on oneself, one's family and the poor among one's brethren is also good. that's easy.
however, here comes the hard part. what exactly does "beginning" mean? is there a "continuation" or "end" to it, and what would that be? would it then be expending one's wealth on others? and is it good to spend wealth on oneself? aren't we trying to be selfless and always give to others, or is this perhaps just a first step?
just like unity is achieved in small steps (oneself, family, tribe, city, country, continent, world?), maybe this is the same thing? we take similar steps, start small with ourselves, and then continue?
or what do you think? I don't know...
"The beginning of magnanimity is when man expendeth his wealth on himself, on his family and on the poor among his brethren in his Faith."
- Bahá'u'lláh -
after doing it for a while, I have more questions than answers... the quotation is deceptively simple, but very difficult to grasp.
to start with, it is easy to acknowledge that being magnanimous is good. that also means that expending wealth on oneself, one's family and the poor among one's brethren is also good. that's easy.
however, here comes the hard part. what exactly does "beginning" mean? is there a "continuation" or "end" to it, and what would that be? would it then be expending one's wealth on others? and is it good to spend wealth on oneself? aren't we trying to be selfless and always give to others, or is this perhaps just a first step?
just like unity is achieved in small steps (oneself, family, tribe, city, country, continent, world?), maybe this is the same thing? we take similar steps, start small with ourselves, and then continue?
or what do you think? I don't know...
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