Santa Rocks

Source: Care2.com
Who loves us more than Santa? Who do we love more in return? Yet Santa is not just a jolly old guy in a red outfit. He is a true Yogi — someone who embodies love, generosity and great wisdom. The figure of Santa is a remarkable example of such qualities, which we may all want to emulate:

1. He makes us do good and feel good. Now that’s a big one, as many of us can get caught up during this time and act selfishly or crabby.

2. He gives, endlessly, to everyone, without discrimination, all over the world, all at pretty much the same time. This indicates a truly generous heart, one that takes great joy in giving, without needing to receive.

3. Yet he does not give blindly. Rather he judges what is the most appropriate gift for each. This shows great discernment, as giving needs wisdom in order to be of most benefit.

4. He encourages rituals and invokes magic in every child’s life: letter writing, stocking filling, decorations, parades, milk and cookies. Ritual is an essential part of honoring that which is greater than us, and magic is the beauty of the unknown.

5. He listens to our pleas and requests and reads our letters. He takes the time to hear us and pays attention, which most of us could do a lot more of.

6. He has great psychic powers: he flies in the sky with reindeer, descends chimneys without getting covered in soot, goes by many names and forms, and is extraordinarily elusive. Has anyone actually ever seen him?

7. He knows where we live. In other words, he is inside every one of us.

8. Most importantly, he lifts our spirits at the darkest time, bringing us laughter and joy, which is undoubtedly the greatest gift of all.

Through giving to others, a la Santa, we get away from selfishness and neediness, and in the process see our own self-centeredness in greater perspective. It connects us to the basic goodness within us, a quality of kindness that is easy to lose touch with. Giving–whether a smile, our time, a listening ear, food or material gifts–is profoundly joyful, both to the one who is receiving and the one who is giving. The essence of this is an open heart, a free mind, and a blissful spirit.

If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble. -Bob Hope

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. -Winston Churchill

True generosity is giving without any thought of getting or receiving; it is unconditional, unattached, free to land wherever it will. Through giving and sharing in this way, we soon find that we do not lose anything; we do not have any less. Rather, we gain so much.

At a booksigning in California, Ed was chatting with a man who was training to be a Zen priest. Shortly afterwards, we left to get something to eat at a Chinese restaurant across the street. As we were eating, the man Ed had been talking to came in, nodded to us, then walked to the back of the restaurant. A while later he came back. As he passed our table he stopped and simply said, “Your dinner is paid for.” Then he left. We were stunned by such a kind and generous act, and the warm memory of it has stayed with us.

Has the spirit of Santa Claus made an appearance in your life lately? Do you have any great Santa stories?