Repaying Kindness

 I am reading Master Sheng Yen's second adage: "To be grateful and repay kindness—this is first; to benefit others is to benefit ourselves."
   Why would Master Sheng Yen remark "this is first"? I always thought this part was a bit confusing, until I am now able to see the second part, which is the obverse of the first. What is secondary to benefiting others is, thus, benefiting oneself.
   The way I best relate to this quotation or saying is that when a person volunteers their efforts, they might become so absorbed in the process that they don't see their interests as separate or different from the whole. Sometimes, one's sense of being unified with others, whether in a shared meditative practice or a volunteer coordination, is so great that there is hardly any recognizable "me" as distinct from "you". During these moments, it's simply unnecessary for me to assert my own interests, special abilities, identity, and so on, because my happiness is part of a harmonizing totality. Here, I might be making a rather sweeping conclusion, but I have often experienced such a oneness when I was volunteering with DDM. Certainly not all the time did this happen, but enough times for me to feel that there is no need to assert the self when performing in a group, especially when the goal is shared and something not related to personal gain.
    This second adage definitely connects to the one before it ("Our needs are few; our wants are many") in the sense that it reinforces how there are not that many needs that are personal. When I am not focused on meeting what I believe to be my needs (but are actually wants or comforts), I can start to dissolve all these inner demands and be more harmonious with my environment.  I believe this is where spiritual environmentalism is such a crucial part of the 108 adages.

References:

 Sheng Yen, 108 Adages: http://www.dharmadrum.org/content/about/about2.aspx?sn=46