My family had a great debate over dinner. The topic was Random Acts of Kindness. "Suprisingly" we all had different views on the topic. James , who is 10 , figures that the acts are no longer random if we force the act. If we only act because we want to record it , it is not random. Shelly's opinion was that the majority of RAK's are just common courtesies.
After being in the I Ho Chuan for one year I ask myself the same questions and have the same feelings. The only difference is my experience with it, I believe that it is our perception of the act. Did we reflect on the day and realize the good we did , or did we force ourselves to hold a door or let some one in in traffic. Not so random.
Either way , I believe that the recording of them move us to be a better , more awakened person. I think it has more to do with our "intent" of the act ... our reason for doing what we did.
If we make a record of the acts we did, whether we'd consider them courtesies or random, is it not a move in the right direction. The more we are aware of our actions and intentions the better we become.
Are we more awake , aware , conscious of why we do what we are doing, or who we are doing it for. Or are we forced to do it out of obligation to meet a requirement and is either way more worthy than another?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Scott Fuhr
http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.com
I think it comes down to the intention of the act and whether one is mindful when doing it or not. "Where am I?" "What am I doing?"
ReplyDeleteI've thought about this too and I have two thoughts about it:
ReplyDelete1) - the person receiving the kindness doesn't know our intent and thus appreciates the kindness regardless. This justifies the act of kindness to me.
2) - performing the acts of kindness, even if they're just "common courtesies" makes you think about them and you end up seeing more opportunities to perform more acts of kindness. It raises your awareness of missed opportunities.
Just my two cents.
Just something to note- the I Ho Chuan requirement is to record 1000 acts of kindness, not raks. Oh, and I'd agree with your 10 yr old!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sifu Rybak, there is intent and therefore these acts are not random... I don't think this takes away from them at all, kindness is a good thing even if we thought about it first
ReplyDeleteSifu Prince
Great post Mr. Fuhr! Definitely a hot topic and one with which I also struggle. Look forward to more debate on this one.
ReplyDelete