The book, How Can I Help?, is very famous owing to its interesting content. The book by Ram Dass and Paul Gorman delves deep into the ethical realm. The work shows the way to the people who are involved in some sort of helping profession. The book is an apt example of a cogent work on caring about other people. The book tells many stories of the people who have served other individuals. This has made them feel enriched in their lives. The experiences of a doctor, a minister, a literacy tutor, a drug counselor, a nun are documented in this book by the two authors.
The book is inspiring enough to give someone the vision and direction in his or her life. The avid readers can gain something out of the reading, and can have something to work towards. The book makes one explore the depths of existence. One can understand that there are so many ways of finding contentment in life through helping other people.
Spiritual people talk of the immense importance of service to other people of the community and society. The various stories of giving accentuate the value of this seminal book. The authors provide the priceless definitions of love, respect and compassion in the course of the book. Thus, the readers can understand the various questions of helpfulness as they read the book. The authors urge the readers to determine the specific steps that would help them not to be strayed from the intended ambitions in their lives. The book preaches many useful things to the readers.
The book iterates the fact that the person who truly wishes to help others must start by knowing what can be helpful to others and what would not be helpful. Some helpers erroneously believe that any sort of effect that they give to help others is helpful to the people. However, this is not true at all. The source of the wisdom in this book is the focus on the action that is followed by a close reflection on the process and final outcome.
The book preaches the truth that all the helpful energy has the inception in the efforts to help the own selves in all the ways. Thus, with self-help, one can very easily transfer the energy to other people when needed.
The definition of compassion is really touching, and it resonates in the mind of the avid readers. A person can be called compassionate when he or she stops and really listens to the other person with all the heart. The emotional reaction to what the person gets to hear can make him or her experience pain or it can even make one aware of his or her vulnerabilities, as the person can truly relate to the speaker in such a scenario. Thus, it is needed at times for the listener to relate to the person he or she is helping, his or her own self being placed in a superior position.
One always needs to remember that being a helper means the person is superior to the one who is being helped. However, the person who is receiving the help should never feel alienated from the person who is helping him or her. The helper should never come across as someone who is unable to comprehend the pain or haplessness of the person who is taking the help.
There has to be some sort of understanding and bond between the two persons involved in the process of help. If the case is not so, then the person who is taking the help would feel worse about himself or herself, and this is not going to be helpful in any way.
The book makes the readers understand that true compassion is only experienced between two equal people, and it is the feeling of commonality that elevates the feeling of being cared about by someone. The helper needs to establish himself or herself as a sincere person with a caring attitude. The ambition must always be to establish an authentic connection with the person who is taking the help. The helper, hence, needs to see the other person as an equal. Only then his feeling of compassion can get evoked as a natural response to a situation.
There is a possibility of selfishness that can be there in the help that is offered to someone. If a helper helps someone as the act of helping would make oneself better, then this helping attitude has its roots in selfishness.
If it is not possible for someone to be able to help everyone, it is fine. But, one should be motivated by the right ideas and intentions regarding his or her actions. The book provides a sea of wisdom to the avid readers, and helps in the journey of life. One can be sure of having a better perspective about life and people around after reading this book.
The paramount value of reading the book is experiencing the stories that are told by the authors of this book. The priceless experience of internalizing compassion, while reading the stories, is something that the readers would cherish for a very long time. The book leaves an everlasting mark on the minds of the readers, and guides the human heart to tread the path that would lead to a better life. The authors have embarked upon a less chartered avenue, and have created a seminal work that would guide people for years to come.
Works Cited
Dass, Ram, and Paul Gorman. How Can I Help? New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Group, 2011. Print.
