Doing actions without expectations! Is this possible?

Most of us would definitely go a certain distance within our capacity to help others without any expectations like give some money to poorer people or wouldn't mind paying a little extra to a laborer or pay whatever the smaller, street side shop keepers demand, I never argue or bargain with them because their profit margin is so little...However There may be some who  have enough means to take care of their needs in life and wouldn't mind spending time and money on  activities that makes them happy without expecting anything back . However for an ordinary person, it is not easy to think of doing anything without expectation in day today life , more so since people hardly reciprocate these days ..There have been umpteen number of times when I open the door in a shopping mall or a shop and a dozen people would pass through without even looking at you forget thanking you , probably knocking you and pushing you in the bargain...Now I don't bother and when someone comes through I tell them to wait until pass..

My Maid servant falls sick very often. Other people for whom she works cut the pay. But I will not. Because we are only two and we together can do our household works for 3 or 4 days. This deed is very much within my capacity.

There seems to be a lot of discussion about who the real philanthropists are and who are fake ones, but I can certainly name a few who are the real people working for the good of others without expecting any returns. They are Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Dr. Baba Amte and his entire family who literally lived in naxal-infested jungles to work for the cause of the Madiya Gonds and outlawed lepers, his family still lives in those places consisting of Dr. Prakash Amte, Dr. Vikas Amte, both their wives, sons, daughters, their grandsons, granddaughters, The fourth generation of Baba Amte is now continuing the work he started. There are other similar couples such as Dr. Abhay Bang and Dr Rani Bang who work for community health in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, again a naxally-infested area, Dr Ravindra Kolhe and his wife Dr. Smita Kolhe who work for the tribals in Melghat, which has the notoriety of being Maharashtra's most malnourished area. Apart from the ones I have named, there are several more such people in the state and across the country.

We do not have to be them,  everyone cannot make the sacrifices these people made, but the least we can do is put in our bit and help others in what little way we can.

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

There seems to be a lot of discussion about who the real philanthropists are and who are fake ones, but I can certainly name a few who are the real people working for the good of others without expecting any returns. They are Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Dr. Baba Amte and his entire family who literally lived in naxal-infested jungles to work for the cause of the Madiya Gonds and outlawed lepers, his family still lives in those places consisting of Dr. Prakash Amte, Dr. Vikas Amte, both their wives, sons, daughters, their grandsons, granddaughters, The fourth generation of Baba Amte is now continuing the work he started. There are other similar couples such as Dr. Abhay Bang and Dr Rani Bang who work for community health in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, again a naxally-infested area, Dr Ravindra Kolhe and his wife Dr. Smita Kolhe who work for the tribals in Melghat, which has the notoriety of being Maharashtra's most malnourished area. Apart from the ones I have named, there are several more such people in the state and across the country.

We do not have to be them,  everyone cannot make the sacrifices these people made, but the least we can do is put in our bit and help others in what little way we can.

Absolutely. Those who think that there are no people who put Service before Self without expecting returns are living in their own paradise and who cannot see more than darkness.

I agree with you absolutely that one can direct all his endeavors to be a  part of such noble people in our own humble way . Do you remember that small squirrel's efforts in helping the Rama sethu in Ramayana in its own way ?

 

There is a lady who has planted and nurtures tree through the 4 km stretch of highway in Karnataka,,, such people are rare and one can only admire them for of the dedication they have shown to their cause.But for the vast majority , such unselfish deeds may not be always possible..

http://www.theweekendleader.com/Heroism/641/banyan-mother.html

Highly commendable effort  on part of the lady who has planted trees on a 4 km stretch in Karnataka. Such stories should get wide publicity to motivate others. She also had expectations in doing so but they were of a noble nature. Hats off to her and thanks to @Usha for bringing it into the Forum.

First of all, the photo is lively. This emphasizes the fact that there are people who work without expectations.

It takes all types of people to make this world.

So , there are and will be all types of people. This includes selfless people who put service before self.

Agreed. But you have to be careful, under the guise of selfless service many of them collect hefty service charges. Some are cooling their heels in the jail.

Only a hypocrite will be under the guise. Real selfless present themselves with head held high.

But we find the hypocrites amassing huge wealth, obviously followers are not able to distinguish.

According to Bhagavad Gita you do your bit without bothering about the end result . This is a thought that has been expressed by many thinkers .But in reality people may think that they have reached that level but when things dont go as expected you can see that they have been fooling themselves ..However, these thoughts expressed by Zen philosophers makes sense ..

http://zenhabits.net/ah/

" Toss your Expectations in to the sea"

The Zen habits given in the link are wonderful.