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A Test of Vanity

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posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:24 PM
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Dear reader,

When you donate to the charity of your choice, save a life, support something beyond yourself or sacrifice a little of yourself for something or someone else in the most selfless manner, would you be able to live your entire life without telling, implying or claiming you committed that selfless act to a single soul?

If not a single soul hears us discuss our selfless acts, and they remain unspoken of by us for the rest of our lives, does the meaning in that sacrifice remain pure and untarnished by our own vanity?

Although I am being vain in telling you—and I hope you'd be quick to point that out—I will never, for the rest of my life, tell a soul about my selfless acts, in the hopes that they remain pure in my memory and not used as a means to satiate my vanity (Starting now
).

Anyone else with me?



edit on 5-10-2012 by LesMisanthrope because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:26 PM
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Well now since you confessed of saying that you did indeed do something charitable, doesn't that go against the principal.



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:30 PM
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reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


What if I tell no one but only do it to satisfy my own narcissistic image?



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:31 PM
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That is a key concept in Christianity.

A good deed done that is done to brag about, means you had your reward for that deed here on earth.


Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.


Matthew 6:1



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:32 PM
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reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


Isn't keeping your selfless acts to yourself in fact being selfish?




Haha... jk

The praise of others is useless other then to feed ones own ego...

Theres only one whos opinion matters




posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:33 PM
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reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


I have often thought about this very thing.
Good for you for recognising it.

I give NO ONE credit for ANYTHING that they announce they did.
(good deeds that is).
It immediately tarnishes and corrupts whatever was being done no matter HOW important or helpful.

I personally believe that for every "good deed" we do, we have a choice.

Recieve your payment NOW in the form of ego gratification
or let Karma take care of you and recieve a much larger reward later on, not necessarily after you die either.
If you are at all familiar with the law of attraction then this should make some sense to you.



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:34 PM
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Originally posted by Jordan River
Well now since you confessed of saying that you did indeed do something charitable, doesn't that go against the principal.


I don't know what you're talking about.



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:34 PM
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reply to post by Akragon
 


Good words.




posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:36 PM
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Originally posted by Screwed
reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


I have often thought about this very thing.
Good for you for recognising it.

I give NO ONE credit for ANYTHING that they announce they did.
(good deeds that is).
It immediately tarnishes and corrupts whatever was being done no matter HOW important or helpful.

I personally believe that for every "good deed" we do, we have a choice.

Recieve your payment NOW in the form of ego gratification
or let Karma take care of you and recieve a much larger reward later on, not necessarily after you die either.
If you are at all familiar with the law of attraction then this should make some sense to you.


I am familiar with the law of attraction, which seems to be a vain enough reason to want to commit a selfless act.



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:39 PM
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What if by telling someone(s) your act inspires an exponential amount of "pay it forward" type activism? Doh...I just strange-looped myself.

Seriously, I know what you mean. I concur.



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:45 PM
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reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


It depends.
If you are doing the act for the sole purpose of recieving reward then yes.

If you are doing the act because it needs to be done,
If you are doing it out of compassion,
if your intentions are pure,
then you can also know, as a secondary effect, you will also, at some point in the future, reap your karmic reward.

If this doesn't make sense to you then I am afraid I am not going to be able to convince you otherwise.



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:57 PM
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Originally posted by Screwed
reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


It depends.
If you are doing the act for the sole purpose of recieving reward then yes.

If you are doing the act because it needs to be done,
If you are doing it out of compassion,
if your intentions are pure,
then you can also know, as a secondary effect, you will also, at some point in the future, reap your karmic reward.

If this doesn't make sense to you then I am afraid I am not going to be able to convince you otherwise.


I'm not quite positive there are any harmonic rewards myself, or at least that's what my experiences and life have lead me to believe. But I see what you're saying. For me, since I'm not sure there is any reward, I must do it for the pure memory of my humanity and hold on to it as a healthy ideal (to use philosophical jargon). Once it gets soiled and used for vain measures, it becomes something else, and no longer a selfless act...maybe I'm taking too far.

I think we agree except for the reward bit.



posted on Oct, 5 2012 @ 11:59 PM
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I prefer to be anonymous anyway, but you know, sometimes people want to know who it was that helped them, and you making yourself known (at least privately, which is how I'd do it if anything) would actually be another selfless act in their eyes. The whole point is how other feels when you take self out of the picture, right?
Although I see self being separate from other as a delusion.

'Lend nothing at interest' is something I tend to go by.

They say of some of those who donate and what not, that they only do so to make themselves feel better. A 'pat yourself on the back and be on your merry way' sort of thing. Well, that's one perspective and is as valid as any other, but the whole point of charity is helping. As long as someone feels helped, charity happened. We just like to look for faults in any action done, vanity is one such perceived 'fault' that is seen as nullifying an act towards someone else since the lender got something obvious in return for his action, self-pride.

"You only helped us because you were feeling guilty and it was making you feel bad." It's still empathy though... but even empathy can be spun around to look wrong. Anything can be spun around to appear wrong. Does it really matter how someone feels? Let them feel it. The only problems are the ones we create.
edit on 5/10/12 by AdamsMurmur because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 6 2012 @ 12:04 AM
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reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


So awesome that you posted this topic.

I'll take it a step further and really blow your mind and take you into my twisted reality.


When/if I do a "good deed" (not that I ever have :lol
I refuse to let myself think about it or take ANY satisfaction in it because I don't want to feed my ego. It is a nasty little creature and if it gets fed too often it gets fat and happy and pretty powerful I might add.

So, I fight back the "self congratulatory" feeling and refuse to feel good about it.
A job well done is a job well done.
No need to pat yourself on the back and go to bed at night thinking what a great person you are.



posted on Oct, 6 2012 @ 12:12 AM
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Originally posted by AdamsMurmur
I prefer to be anonymous anyway, but you know, sometimes people want to know who it was that helped them, and you making yourself known (at least privately, which is how I'd do it if anything) would actually be another selfless act in their eyes. The whole point is how other feels when you take self out of the picture, right?
Although I see self being separate from other as a delusion.

'Lend nothing at interest' is something I tend to go by.

They say of some of those who donate and what not, that they only do so to make themselves feel better. A 'pat yourself on the back and be on your merry way' sort of thing. Well, that's one perspective and is as valid as any other, but the whole point of charity is helping. As long as someone feels helped, charity happened. We just like to look for faults in any action done, vanity is one such perceived 'fault' that is seen as nullifying an act towards someone else since the lender got something obvious in return for his action, self-pride.

"You only helped us because you were feeling guilty and it was making you feel bad." It's still empathy though... but even empathy can be spun around to look wrong. Anything can be spun around to appear wrong. Does it really matter how someone feels? Let them feel it. The only problems are the ones we create.
edit on 5/10/12 by AdamsMurmur because: (no reason given)


I agree, and I appreciate your honesty. We are by nature vain, it's something we cannot get over. It's not evil but fundamental in my opinion. I think it can be redirected however.

I'm not saying stop doing charitable or selfless acts for the fear of appearing vain, only that there's deeper meaning in it: the mere memory of the experience and the knowledge that one can be purely good—maybe that's vain in itself, or a reward, but it's redirected in a better way. It doesn't need to go further than that. What results is what results. Whether the receiver knows or not is not fundamentally meaningful.



posted on Oct, 6 2012 @ 12:18 AM
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Originally posted by Screwed
reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


So awesome that you posted this topic.

I'll take it a step further and really blow your mind and take you into my twisted reality.


When/if I do a "good deed" (not that I ever have :lol
I refuse to let myself think about it or take ANY satisfaction in it because I don't want to feed my ego. It is a nasty little creature and if it gets fed too often it gets fat and happy and pretty powerful I might add.

So, I fight back the "self congratulatory" feeling and refuse to feel good about it.
A job well done is a job well done.
No need to pat yourself on the back and go to bed at night thinking what a great person you are.


Is that healthy? I think self-pride, or an inward expression of proudness, may be a healthy practice for overall well-being. Self-respect is a great quality—at least in my opinion. Remembering oneself is how the soul takes shape.

My dear friend, the ego can be used as a tool; it is indeed a part of you. We should sublimate our nature, not destroy it.
edit on 6-10-2012 by LesMisanthrope because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 6 2012 @ 12:27 AM
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reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 


I take "pride" / satisfaction in what I do for myself, not in what i do for others.

edit on 6-10-2012 by Screwed because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 6 2012 @ 01:59 AM
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Of course!

A few months back I was walking around Stockholm and saw a homeless man sleeping in front of a statue. It was a calm morning with no people around. I went and got a rock, put 200 kronors (about 30 dollars) under it and put it in front of the man.

Then I left. I honestly dont care if he knows it was me or not as long as he gets some use of it. I hope he did. And it felt awesome giving that money to another human that really needed it rather than blowing it on coffee for the next week or whatever.

So now ATS is the first to know. Damn, thats vanity now since I told you right? No.




edit on 6-10-2012 by Bodhi911 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 6 2012 @ 02:03 AM
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reply to post by LesMisanthrope
 

This all depends upon whether you seek to keep your selfless act to yourself or if you intend to LEAD BY EXAMPLE. Split Infinity



posted on Oct, 6 2012 @ 02:04 AM
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reply to post by SplitInfinity
 


Or third option, as in my case, simply inspire others. Im not going to be a leader for anyone besides myself. I dont believe in people following others, but I do believe in inspiration from others so they can be a better leader in their own life.


edit on 6-10-2012 by Bodhi911 because: (no reason given)




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