Intoku meaning helping others in secret or secret charity is simply a beautiful concept with a very deep spiritual and philosophical meaning. Intoku was introduced by Toichi Tohei, the founder of Ki-Aikido and it has connections to many religious and it can be considered as a difficult practice that can only be carried out by someone with high principles and intelligence.
Lot of us wants to do good things in our lives but most of us expect some form reward in return for our actions. If we make a generous donation we want our names to read out or others to be aware of it and appreciate it. More often lot of people get discouraged once they do not get the attention or the recognition they expect in return for whatever the contributions they have made to others or to the society. Even more, people restrict the amount of good they do on the amount of return benefits they get. Sometimes people help others to the extent they prefer the person and not help a person they don’t like. But Intoku is where one is not expecting anything in return or any recognition or any awareness from anyone. It is a concept that is hard to practice by an ordinary person but which can ultimately bring the self perfection and spiritualism to a person. It will create a person who love everyone in the world and benefits everyone.
A natural question would be how one can practice Intoku. The simplest way would be to be a good person. As in any religion would suggest anyone can practice certain common moral standards. Honesty, truthfulness, moral conduct, nonviolence and abiding law can be recognized as a universally recognized set of qualities of a good individual. One may wonder how a person can help other in secret by having such qualities. One thing is that the negative impact or harm that would occur from such a person to the society will be minimum. He becomes a person whom others can trust and rely upon. Naturally his life style and actions will contribute only to the benefit of others and whoever associates with his will only get positive results.
Another way a person can practice Intoku is by protecting the nature. Day by day we see that the global ecology system is changing and many bad effects such as global warming are affecting human. With our knowing or not we are polluting the environment by our daily activities and life styles. By practicing simple things such as refraining from using Polythin and plastics one can avoid great pollution caused by their not decomposing nature. Use of reusable and recyclable material again can significantly contribute to the protection of nature. Lot of diseases are caused by polluted water and a person who would take measures to clean up at least his enclosure might save himself and at the same time minimize any harm that would come to others. Today’s major global weather conditions are caused by lack of forestry and emission of carbon gases to air. Lot of people does not grow trees even if they have enough space to do so but it can be one of the most helpful ways to protect the environment. To minimize the emission of carbon gases to the air as an individual one can take simple methods such as use of fuel efficient vehicles and public transport. Though this may seem quite impractical, such simple practices as an individual can contribute to the preservation of the environment for current and future generations and such a person would be helping the world in secret. A large collection of such individuals who would practice Intoku can make a great difference to the betterment of the whole world.
Identifying ones professional responsibilities and obligations and delivering them on time and properly is another way of helping others in secret. It is a practice among many to offer extra work in their respective occupations if they are offered any extra payments or benefits. Some people would only work for the specified time period only. There are also people who would perform there duties only to the minimum sufficient level though they have enough capacity to do better which can bring a greater results. But what if a person can always perform his work to the perfection irrespective of any rewards or recognition and what if a person can work a little extra than his specified amount of work. Such actions can improve the quantity and quality of output from a person which will fast forward the development of a society and enrich the life condition of its members.
Kindness and politeness can also be simple ways of helping others in secret. Lot of people gets distressed and uncomfortable in environments where people are arrogant and prejudice. It brings down the productivity of people and creates stress and disharmony. But just being polite to others, greeting to a person with a smile and appreciating a help from someone by thanking, forgiving and forgetting a mistake of a person are simple ways to create friendly environments where people become relaxed and happy. It will lead to the high quality of life standards in a society overall happiness within its members.
Another common way of practicing Intoku would be by showing others their mistakes and faults and helping to correct them. It is common that parents and teachers do this to their children often. Sometimes it is rare that such practices among the adults to themselves. It is most often the case that many of us try to concentrate on our own affairs and ignore what others do even if they know consequences. A person caring enough to advise or make others aware of their faults to avoid them getting into trouble would be helping other in secret.
In this article we try to analyze the concept of Intoku to some extent. It is a practice that can be done by anyone irrespective of the age, gender or the belief system they follow. Intoku can be considered as the ultimate selflessness in a person who would have the most generosity and compassion towards his community and the society.
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