But such aid is not necessarily sharing. This is so because, in this type of aid, a watertight division seems to separate two persons. It is created by the mind, certainly, but it often takes a very concrete form in the condescending attitude of the giver and the fatalistic attitude or the revolt of the receiver. Now, sharing implies a symbiosis in which two individuals or two partners both give and receive at the same time, although what is received is not necessarily of the same nature as what is given. Then sharing takes place.
Sharing is neither an idea nor an act.
It is a state of mind, an inner attitude which governs the idea and the act. The spirit of sharing cannot arise where the feeling of separateness has not been recognized and to some extent overcome. Thus, it cannot germinate in a heart rendered sterile by 'the giant weed' of self, nor can it blossom in a mind which has become insensitive under the influence of purely theoretical knowledge. It can arise only when the 'I' is no longer predominant. It dawns with self-forgetfulness.