Stories can be long or short, 500-1500 words.
Here are some ideas for sharing about giving:
-A smile, a listening ear, a bag of food for homeless person.
-A charitable act—cooking for a soup kitchen or donating money or clothing.
-Caring for those who are ill or in need.
-Planting trees, cleaning up garbage on the side of the roads or on the beach
-An addiontal way of giving is through sharing about deeply personal, transformational experiences. Stories about your personal lives that delve into your negative tendencies (vasanas) and your intense desires to let go of them, and how Amma guides us into the light.
-Amma asks us to share about our short-comings. This act will release a burden inside ourselves. When we tell about our inner difficulties, we inspire others to feel free to share weaknesses, recognizing this as integral to the spiritual path towards the goal of Liberation and freedom from all sorrow.
-Your seeking-within-stories offer insight to others. Amma says, "You are the self-effulgent Sun, not a candle to be lit by others." Most of us love for our candles to be lit by others in myriad ways, and sometimes even through reproval, and so a story might narrate a particular scene in which you were clearing out your inner trash barrel, followed by the moment you realized you indeed are the self-effulgent sun.
Suggestions for writing in the most expressive and effective way:
-Include a few of the five senses—sound, sight, touch, taste, smell.
-Show the reader the details of each scene, how it moved forward, the images around you and inside of you, so we can see and smell and touch what you experienced.
-Tell how you delved into your vasanas or negative tendencies.
-Describe how you emerged out of darkness and into the light.
-In what ways did Amma inspire you? How was your sadhana (your daily practices) essential for your spiritual growth in your story.
Don't forget: No matter how seemingly insignificant, your stories have the potential to impact others in positive ways, to carry our Beloved Amma's message of compassion to a thirsty world.
