741. How much can you Give in Charity???

http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/how-much-can-you-give-in-charity 

There was a young man who worked hard yet was finding it difficult to make ends meet. He approached a Sadhu Maharaj who live in a temple and poured out his woes. Sadhu Maharaj after closing his eyes for few minutes told him to share a small pancake everyday with stranger before having his breakfast. He assured him by doing so he would be able to attain great merit and his financial conditions will improve.

The young man started following the advice strictly and made a habit to donate a pancake every day first thing in the morning. Amazingly his business started flourishing and he slowly became a wealthy man in the locality. Even after becoming a wealthy person he did not stop sharing the pancake daily in the morning. Years rolled by and he became old and finally one day he passed away. 

For all the good deeds done in this life he was reborn in a royal family and grew up to become the King of the region. He was happy there was no major issues in his life. Once out of curiosity he wished to get subjected to Past Life Regression (PLR) therapy and he came to know that since he had shared a pancake every day with a stranger and the result of that virtuous deed had earned him the status of a King. Without hesitation the King started to continue the act from the very next day. Years rolled by and one day too passed away.

Unpredictably the King was reborn as a beggar who seeks alms at a Dargah. One day a Sufi saint who visited the Dargah when up to the beggar and place his hand over the forehead of the beggar. He told him that even though he had donated daily in his previous two lives he was in this state. Citing the reason the Sufi saint told that prior to becoming a King he was an ordinary person and so sharing a pancake with a stranger was more than sufficient to provide him a lot of virtue. But in his next birth as a King he was endowed with affluence. So, thereafter, the gift of just a pancake a day was quite insufficient to earn him merit of any consequence.

It is the tendency of human race to hoard and not part with anything, this is greed. Those who hoard are willing to part only if they are told to part so that the current problem they are facing gets a solution. Art of giving is a supreme quality one need to develop for his own evolution and also to keep others around him happy. The blessings that come from a true heart is a true blessing for every individual to have a fulfilled and contented life at every stage. Though expecting blessing against charity is also not to be encouraged. Even parting with what we have, against a thought that it will bring benefits is not right. A philanthropist who is sponsoring students in an orphanage has to hope and pray that in the following year not even one less fortunate kid gets enrolled in the orphanage. 

Ultimately one has to understand that it is not "WE" who give instead it is "HIM" through us.