Is there such a thing as a completely selfless act?

Question

Or is everything we pursue in life, whether we acknowledge it or not, aimed at pleasing ourselves, be it psychological or physiological?

Answer 1

Yes there is…however selfless acts are listed under the endangered human attributes along with the extinct ones such as unconditional love and common sense.

Answer 2

It depends on the individual, selflessness is a subjective idea, what one person does might seem like an altruistic act to another, but not the person that committed that act. For example, if say I were to give money to a homeless person on the street, someone watching me might think that I did a selfless act because I was giving away money. In contrast, someone else watching me might think that I gave money to a homeless person because I wanted to feel good about myself, thus negating the act as being selfless. However, it could very well just be the reason that I had come extra change and did not feel like carrying around so I just gave it to someone, to get rid of it, not to necessarily help that person.

Point being, is that selfishness/selflessness is defined by how a person views life, it is a complete subjective thing. An objective selfless act might not really exist, unless the person just does it for the hell of doing it, cannot feel emotions, and does not expect any return for his deed. Some argue that holding a door open for someone is a selfless act, because a) you are not expecting that exact person to hold the door open for you in the future and b) the satisfaction that you recieve when you hold the door open isn't really that great, ie, its so miniscule that it doesn't matter.

Answer 3

True Self-ishness always leads to joy, because it
is motivated always by the desire to feel as good
as possible. It is only when we are Self-ish
enough to be, do and act in accordance with our
desires (not someone else’s) that it is possible
to stay balanced. Energetically speaking, a desire
is a rush of life force energy, a connection to
the divine inner self, which can never result in
actions that are harmful. It is only when true
desires are blocked that they become twisted and
ugly. This statement goes against the common
wisdom that human nature is greedy, violent and
primitive. Human nature is precisely the opposite:
we are born knowing ourselves as powerful,
eternal, spiritual beings. Petty, competitive,
churlish and violent behavior must be overcome
with suitable practice. Observe your family,
friends and coworkers. Almost all of them are good
people, trying to do the best they can. It would
simply not be possible to build a sophisticated
society if human nature was so base. All
successful societies are based upon cooperation,
not competition. Competition works not because it
is adversarial, but because it inspires teamwork.
Ask two angry guys to get something constructive
done, it is not going to happen. All success is
based upon cooperation. That is because we live in
an attraction based universe.

These natural impulses are supposed to be
dangerous because they stem from a primitive
survival instinct. But human being has a better
mind than animals. Just look around at the mess
the world is in! But that is a delusional
assertion, a denial of the basic nature of
consciousness itself. The natural impulses of
human nature stem from a connection to life force,
and it is resistance to this divine impulse which
causes the selfish behavior people object to.

If you observe people you will quickly see that
those persons who are most alive are full of
desire, and those who look lifeless have little or
no desire. Desire = life force. Shut off desire =
selfish behavior. It's ironic that selfish
behavior actually results from self-denial.

Human nature is not a primitive, biological
instinct based on survival of the fittest, it’s a
pure connection to source energy. It is divine.
It's only when that connection is closed off that
selfish behavior is demonstrated. Every one of
your desires is, in its non-resisted state, joyful
and balanced, because that is an inherent property
of consciousness itself. True selfishness is
allowance of desire, without resistance, and
results in the impulse to give freely to others.
But it is first necessary to allow that impulse
within yourself.

http://kjmaclean.com/Selfishness.html

Answer 4

Keywords....."whether we acknowledge it or not".........put that way would make it impossible to have a selfless act.....but the fact of the matter is.......we commit selfless act all the time they are called instincts........the person running into a burning building to help someone without thinking about it is a selfless act.......moving someone out of the way of a moving car.......the list goes on and on....we do these things without realizing it sometimes.......but yes a mother will risk her life for her child.......with out even thinking about it....

Answer 5

The Hindus speak of what they call 'niskamakarma', literally: action without desire (for the result).

This is of course closely connected with doctrine of karma. Since it is desire that brings us back on the wheel of samsara,(the effect of the cause, desire) and since living is impossible without indulging in action in one way or another,the only way of not creating more causes for rebirth to those still unexpended from this and previous lives, is to act, yes, but in a totally selfless way.

I see other respondents have remarked that they have met or known of only very few selfless people; one even said he did not know of any. This is no surprise because becoming totally selfless means becoming egoless, and becoming egoless means putting oneself at a great disadvantage in the struggle for survival, where competition and ruthless selfishness are the rules.

Egolessness is only for those who are ready to die - who are dead already, but the life-energy has not left their body yet. The selfless dead amidst the selfish living, the truly alive amidst the spiritually dead - there will always be very few of them around.

Answer 6

There cannot be something as a selfless act. When we decide to act, we always choose the alternative that bring us most satisfaction, even if not any other profit. We may chose to do the selfless act as opposed to not to do the selfless act, because doing it bring us more satisfaction than not doing it.

Answer 7

I would say those who posit this doctrine (called "psychological hedonism") have the burden of proof.

So they say, "Everything you do is to maximize your own pleasure, and you don't have the power to do otherwise." and if I commit an obviously generous and self-sacrificial act, or even an ascetic or masochistic act, they say, "Still, that is to maximize your pleasure, deep down, it just doesn't appear so on the surface."

I could come back with "Well I think everything you do is to maximize your attainment of coconuts. And if you do things other than coconut-seeking behavior or even actually throw coconuts away, it doesn't matter, DEEP DOWN you still want the coconuts. And you must think that by throwing them away, you'll get more in the long run."

Answer 8

Stalin murdered millions who "selfishly" valued their freedoms. Does that make him selfless?
A selfless act is one in which you take no cognizance of your own hopes, desires, fears, loves, wants, needs--and turn your will and your life over to someone else. You must be in a trance to do this; it cannot be masochism, because masochism is selfish.

Answer 9

nope no such thing ,even selfless acts are done because they make the one doing feel good or as a response to religious teachings and an expected reward in heaven,it called rational self-interest theory by Dr.Hahn PhD

Answer 10

Yes there is a thing that is a completely selfless act, we call it love. Agape if you will but never the less it is love.