The Mystery of Happiness

How to live a soulful and spiritual life.

T. Byram Karasu, M.D. is Silverman Professor of Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. See full bio

July 9, 2009, Social Life

Soul Giving

soul thrives in complex simplicities

The human soul is a small reflective sample of a larger nature, with all its mysteries. Therefore, one must approach it with the same awe and humility one might feel in observing the skies. While every attempt at simplification will betray the soul's simplicity, every attempt to resolve its conflicts would forfeit its growth. The soul thrives in complex peacefulness and contrariness to norms. Simple peacefulness is needed only as an interlude. The path to this complex peacefulness is through soulful generosity, soul giving, which means giving without any condition, and even in anonymity.

The act of giving may be related to two interconnected sources, according to the distinction Joel Kovel makes in his book History and Spirit: Egoic giving and soul giving. Egoic giving is giving in order to get specific gains of prestige, praise, admiration, immortality; it is setting conditions for giving. In contrast, soulful giving is free from the burden of conditions and expectations. It is Bertha's form of giving.

Abraham Lincoln writes of an unexpected consequence of this soul giving. One day he encountered a peddler who had obviously fallen on hard times and asked Lincoln to buy an old barrel of goods, mostly worthless, for a dollar. Although Lincoln could easily have brushed off the failed merchant, he gave the peddler the money and stored the goods he received in return. Only later, when he cleaned out the barrel, did Lincoln find among the old cans and utensils a full set of law books. With these he began his studies to become a lawyer and pursue his future destiny as president.

T. Byram Karasu, MD is the author of The Art of Serenity