When difficult times come, one great thing to see is when people start thinking of each other and working together. If we are mature in mind, we will realise that when I need something, food, or whatever it is, someone else would also need that. If we want to be happy, everybody has a right to be happy. That is generosity.
There is a beautiful story about this. Once there was a competition put between the Devas (Angels) and Asuras (Demons). The competition was they were all made to sit in line with each other with their hands tied with the bamboo sticks so they couldn’t bend them. The food was served, and they were asked to take the food and eat. The Asuras looked at each other, not knowing what to do as their arms were fixed and they couldn’t put the food in their mouth to eat. They were furious – “This is a trick!” they yelled and screamed.
The Devas, however, realized simply that if they sat in front of each other, they could feed each other. So thus they could all eat and won the competition. The moral of the story is, we all need each other.
This consideration for others can come more as the mind becomes purified through meditation. We start to think of a larger cause, of the betterment of society, the whole world.