A Joyful Practice

The Power of Giving & Sharing  (the “missing” Wednesday post) June 14, 2023

Happy Pride! Many blessing to everyone on World Blood Donor Day!!!

This is the “missing” post for Wednesday, June 14^th. It includes updated statistics (compared to the related linked posts). Some links at the end of the post connect outside of this blog. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

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“I found that [Karl] Landsteiner and I had a much different approach to science: Landsteiner would ask, ‘What do these experimental observations force us to believe about the nature of the world?’ and I would ask, ‘What is the most simple, general and intellectually satisfying picture of the world that encompasses these observations and is not incompatible with them?’”

– quoted from “Fifty Years of Progress in Structural Chemistry and Molecular Biology.” By Dr. Linus Pauling (published in Daedalus, 99, 1005. 1970)

In addition to the typical philosophical questions, this week has been full of very practical questions: “Are you keeping your foundation in mind?” “What do you have a hard time wrapping your brain around (i.e., understanding)?” In other words, “How ignorant are you?” “What ails you?” “How do you cope with what ails you?” “Does the way you cope alleviate suffering or create more suffering?” And, rooted within each of those questions is one more: “Are you willing to alleviate your suffering and/or the suffering of another?”

Honestly, that last question is really just asking if you’re willing to be a hero(ine)?

Heroes and heroines have come up again and again over the last few weeks. Sometimes the reference was inferred; other times it was quite explicit. Either way, the idea that one person could do something to help – even save – themselves and/or another person comes up over and over again. And, yes, I will admit that I have a certain bias towards the idea. I definitely appreciate the fact that many of the heroes and heroines you find in so many cultural stories (not to mention in the stories of certain superheroes) are ordinary people who do extra-ordinary things. Sure, sometimes they are given superpowers, but what is more relevant is the power(s) they cultivate.

“The last category of our innate siddhis is dana, “the ability to give.” We have both the wisdom and the courage to share what lawfully belongs to us with others. We are designed to experience the joy of giving. This joy is the architect of human civilization, characterized by self-sacrifice and selflessness.”

– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.24 from The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

According to the Yoga Sūtras, when we eliminate suffering and the roots of suffering, we gain awareness of our true nature. We also gain access to the power and vitality of our true nature. In the Sāṃkhya Karika, that power and vitality includes six siddhis (“powers” or abilities) which are described as “powers unique to being human.” Everyone has these powers, but not everyone appreciates and cultivates them. Take for example, what happens when we harness the power of duḥkha-vighātaḥ-trayaḥ (the ability to “eliminate three-fold sorrow,” i.e., physical, mental, and spiritual sorrow) and combine it with the power of dana (“generosity,” i.e., the ability to give to another).

We all have something that legally belongs to us that we could give to another. We also have something that most of us can give away without ever missing. I’m not talking about a material possession – although some of us may have material things that we could give away and not miss. No, here, I am specifically talking about something that is the very essence of our life. Consider how powerful it is to literally give our lifeblood. We have the ability to do that thanks to Dr. Karl Landsteiner, the “Father of Transfusion Medicine,” who was born today in 1868.

Click here to read more about the significance of Dr. Karl Landsteiner’s work.

In honor of Dr. Landsteiner’s birthday, today is World Blood Donor Day. (Coincidentally, it falls just the day before the anniversary of Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys’s 1667 surgery on a 15-year old boy, using sheep’s blood.) Established in 2005, by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World Blood Donor Day is a celebration of and an expression of gratitude for the millions of donors worldwide. It is also an opportunity to raise awareness for the universal need for safe blood and blood products. This year, the host country is Algeria (through its National Blood Transfusion Service) and the theme is “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often.”

“[The 2023 World Blood Donor Day theme] focuses on patients requiring life-long transfusion support and underlines the role every single person can play, by giving the valuable gift of blood or plasma. It also highlights the importance of giving blood or plasma regularly to create a safe and sustainable supply of blood and blood products that can be always available, all over the world, so that all patients in need can receive timely treatment.”

– quoted from the World Health Organization’s 2023 World Blood Donor Day site

According to WHO, 42% of the world’s blood supply is collected in high income countries, which are home to only 16% of the world’s population. Additionally, as of 2018, only 79 countries have the majority (90%) of their blood supplied by voluntary, unpaid donors. Some of those countries also supply blood transfusions free of charge. Meanwhile, 54 countries depend on family and paid donors. When it comes to plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMP), less than half of the reporting countries (56 out of 171) produce PDMP through the fractionation (i.e., separation) of plasma collected in the reporting countries. A little over 53% of reporting countries (91 out of 171) import all PDMP. The remaining 14% either reported no usage or did not report any data.

Just as the demographics of people who donate is different, how different countries use blood varies. For example, in low income countries, more than half (54%) of blood transfusions are give to children under 5 years old. On the flip side, the majority of people receiving transfusions in high income countries (76%) are over the age of 60.

Go deeper and you will find that even in countries that can depend on voluntary donations, certain parts of the country experience shortages which can only be alleviated by a mobilized network. In fact, one of the goals of World Blood Donor Day is to “mobilize support at national, regional, and global levels among governments and development partners to invest in, strengthen and sustain national blood programmes.” That mobilized network can include electronic cold chain monitoring systems and drones – both of which can be found in Rwanda and in Ukraine.

“Rwanda’s policy since 1985 is that blood must be donated by unpaid volunteers and provided to patients in need free-of-charge. Donors around Rwanda are eager to help.

‘I always am happy to save a life of someone, even someone I don’t know, because in our (Rwandan) culture, we believe that to be human is to do good things to someone without being remunerated,’ said Euphrasie Uwase Maneno, a blood donor.”

– quoted from the 12 June 2019 World Health Organization report “Drones take Rwanda’s national blood service to new heights” by © National center for blood transfusion (NCBT) Rwanda  

Wednesday’s playlist is on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06142020 World Blood Donor Day”]

Click here for the Red Cross site featuring fun and interactive animations regarding “Facts About Blood and Blood Types” – including some U. S. population breakdowns based on blood type.

“[Canadian drone manufacturer Draganfly’s] medical drones, meanwhile, are equipped with temperature-controlled payload boxes that can be used to transport up to 35 pounds of blood, insulin, vaccines, and other supplies. They can fly for 40 minutes on a single charge.”

– quoted from the Freethink article “Medical drones to transport blood being rushed to Ukraine” by Kristin Houser (dated March 31, 2022)

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