Thoughts on Charity
The Fourth “International Charity Forum” Speech
(June 20, 2010 PM)
Good afternoon to all great masters and philanthropists. I am very pleased to be here today with so many wonderful people, to talk about the topic of charity.
Just as the aim of charity is to help others, the fundamental basis of all the philosophies of Mahayana Buddhism is to benefit all human beings, and even all living beings. As a Buddhist, I am therefore honored to be here to discuss this important concept with everyone.
Charity Is Heart
Charity is actually the unconditional care of and love for all living beings. In this regard, the rich are able to offer economic support, while those who have no money can still generate a loving heart toward others. While it is impossible for everyone in the world to become Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, it is possible for us to imitate Mother Teresa, beginning with the care of and love for living beings around us.
Mother Teresa was an ordinary Catholic nun. When she encountered the plight of the poor outside her convent, she resolutely abandoned the comfortable heavenly life, using her entire lifetime to undertake the important tasks of rescuing the poor, helping leprosy patients, and inspiring millions by her example. On the surface, she may have appeared to be just an ordinary woman, but, in fact, what she accomplished is far more than anything we can imagine. To mention only one of her achievements, in just six years she founded and established shelters for more than 60,000 abandoned babies. These heroic charities have received worldwide recognition. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Last year, the Nobel Foundation acknowledged that, in the hundred-year history of the Nobel Prize, she was one of the three most respected winners. (The other two were Albert Einstein, who won the prize for physics in 1921, and Martin Luther King, the peace prize winner in 1964.) Therefore, we can see that, whether coming from Buddhist, Catholic, or other religious beliefs, acts of charity to help others and put others before ourselves are vital to the social well being of everyone and worthy of praise.
Nowadays, the objectives of human life are different for each individual. However, whatever we long for, without a proper motivation, is meaningless. If we seek solely external, material things, our heart fills with a selfish motivation, and no matter how good our living conditions are, and no matter how beautiful our personal lives seem, none of it will have true meaning. On the other hand, if we use the Buddhist concept of altruism to transform our mind, and set a proper motivation, whatever we do will become meaningful. Likewise, only by giving everything, without asking for anything in return, can charity reach its fullest potential.
Today, many people think that charity is simply something the rich do for leisure, and that it has little to do with the ordinary population. Therefore, in this respect, many people have no interest in and are never concerned about it. This thinking is completely wrong. There is a very memorable story I often think about in this regard. On February 16, 2007, the then departing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan held a charity dinner in his own mansion to raise money for the poor children in Africa. Among those who participated were the very wealthy and celebrities. Before the banquet started, an old woman came to the entrance of the mansion leading a little girl. The little girl was holding a delicate porcelain jar. Seeing this, the security guard stopped the old woman and the young girl, and asked them to show their invitation cards, failing which they would not be allowed to enter.
The little girl said that she had learnt from television that there was to be a charity event for the children of Africa, and that she would like to do something for those poor children. She had decided to take all the money that was in her savings jar and donate it to the cause. However, the security guard, seeing that they had not been invited, refused to let them enter, saying that the event was not suitable for them.
The little girl then asked, “Uncle, charity is not money, it’s the heart, right?” Her words shocked the security guard. Knowing that she was certainly not able to get in, the little girl then placed the savings jar in the hands of the man and said to him, “I know the people invited are all very rich, and they will donate a lot of money. I do not have so much, but it is all the money I have. If I really cannot go in, please help me take this in.”
Just then, an old man appeared and said, “No, child, you’re right. Charity is not money, it is the heart. You can go in. All loving persons can go in.” The old man was the famous “Sage of Omaha,” Mr. Warren Buffett.
Later, the charity banquet slogan was changed to: “Charity is not money, it is the heart.” The protagonist of that day’s charity dinner was not Warren Buffett, who donated three million dollars, nor Bill Gates, who donated eight million dollars, but the little girl, who donated just thirty dollars. She was well received, and the crowd gave her the most enthusiastic applause.
What does this story tell us? That an ordinary person can participate in charity; that it is not just a privilege of the rich. In this matter, Jet Li’s “One Foundation” has set a very good example. He encourages each person to donate at least one dollar per month, or do an hour of voluntary charitable work. This way, as long as there is a kind heart, anyone can participate in a charitable event.
Charity’s Present Situation and Its Historical Causes
Social polarization is now very serious. Wealthy people spend money like water and are extravagant. In contrast, poor people do not have enough clothes to wear, do not have enough food to eat, and even their basic needs are not guaranteed. The prominent Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu, once wrote, “While the mansion of the rich has spoilt wines and rotten meats, the roadside has the frozen bones of the dead.” This is as true a picture of the current state of affairs as it was of his. In order to improve the situation in this environment, each of us should generate a non-discriminative love toward others, and, as much as we can, help living beings. If everyone can achieve the idea expressed in the saying “While taking care and honoring our own elder relatives, we should not forget about other elderly. While raising and educating our own children, we should not forget about other children,” then building a harmonious society will be very easy, and just around the corner.
Unfortunately, however, at present this idea just exists on paper, and very few people actually achieve it. Most people only care about their families and friends. As for strangers, even in times of difficulties and hardship, most people never help them. Instead, they remain hard-hearted and uncaring. The reasons why people have this rather negative concept of charity can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, due to the influence of the extreme left and the effects of the “Cultural Revolution,” charity was regarded as “bourgeois sugar-coated bullets” and the “hypocrisy of the landlord’s class,” which was then facing historic destruction and condemnation. This caused charitable acts to dry up, and charity disappeared for almost thirty years. Only in the 1980s did the concept of charity re-emerge in China. Gradually, charitable institutions were established, and then charitable activities were frequently carried out. At that time, some wise people started to correct the misunderstanding and prejudice regarding charitable acts.
Nevertheless, the concept and practice of charity, due to this historical influence, has not yet been widely recognized by the public. Existing Chinese “Sources of Words” and “Sea of Words” (dictionaries) don’t have an entry for “philanthropist.” The Great Encyclopedia of China, published a few years ago, explains a “charitable act” as: “With strong religious and superstitious beliefs, the intention is to perform a good deed in order to receive good fortune later. Charitable people often view charity as an act of giving. However, it only targets a small group of people on a temporary basis, and is pessimistic.” In contrast, inside the Encyclopedia Americana from the United States, “charity” is defined as: “One of the oldest social traditions, through donations of money and other services to improve human well-being.” Therefore, in order to promote the development of charity and clarify the vague understanding and prejudice toward it, it is necessary to redefine “philanthropy” and other related words, and strengthen an awareness of charity in all its aspects.
Future Prospects of Charity
As a Buddhist, helping less fortunate living beings and even giving ourselves up for others are our mandatory responsibilities. I hope that even those of you here who are not Buddhist will agree that giving a helping hand to people who cannot afford medical care, education fees, food, or even clothing are the basic moral values of an ethical person. So, how can we accelerate the pace of this charity and improve the current shortcomings in order to benefit all sentient beings as much as possible? In this regard, I would like to present a few of my views.
Firstly, the future of charity is inseparable from the power of private charitable groups: it needs the encouragement and support of government policies. Take, for example, the Yushu earthquake. At that time, more than a thousand monks from our Buddhist Institute were there to help. Everyone was risking their lives, facing hunger and cold, and rescuing the victims day and night. Eventually, we rescued some of the people who had been buried in the rubble and dug out some of the victims’ belongings. As we learned, when we are facing a major disaster, relying exclusively on government organizations and our leaders to solve various kinds of problems is very difficult. Therefore, the government should actively mobilize its various resources and capacities to enhance the concept of charity, and, on the basis of this, further speed up the legislative process of philanthropic law, making the charitable legal system robust and complete, so that more people can take on this social responsibility.
Secondly, everyone should enhance their own awareness of charity and endeavor to transform their previous incorrect ideas about charity. Besides that, we also need to reform our education system, which plays an important role as an architect of our future generations. At present, our schools don’t emphasize moral education. As a result, many people lack character and moral values. As for the knowledge that our schools emphasize and teach us, many people are barely able to use it. Brought up in this education system, many people are constantly striving for money and status only, making no room for their inner spiritual growth. What are the results of this? The only sure one is tormented suffering. Therefore, all types of schools should fulfill their educational role and function so that young people learn the concepts of love and benevolence, beginning in childhood, and constantly cultivate an altruistic mindset, as well as learn how to carry out charitable acts with compassion.
The background of today’s charity forum is the big word: “kindness”. If everyone had developed a kind heart early in their childhood, they would not do anything against the law as an adult. Hence, what the present society needs most is not external monies and materials, but the heart of morality.
As we are all aware, in the 20th century and thus far in the 21st century, the economic development of humanity as a whole has reached an unprecedented level. However, stemming from the idea of acquiring still more, moral values continue to decline every day, confusion and misunderstandings increase, and natural and man-made disasters are happening more frequently. As we can see, if there is no kind heart, no matter how rich the external material world may seem, we cannot obtain true happiness, joy, and comfort. As such, it is very important for everyone to change their mindsets.
Thirdly, we need to perfect charitable organizations’ management mechanisms. Lack of transparency in the use of funds in these institutions and imperfect operating procedures will diminish their credibility, causing lower public support and trust. With this, they will not last long.
All in all, there is a world of difference between the concept, management, and influence of charity in China or other eastern countries, as compared to that in western developed countries. Therefore, the question of how we can make the effort to seriously push our future development of charity is worthy of consideration by every conscientious person.
Finally, let’s pray that we can use bodhicitta, or love, in our treatment of all human beings, and even all living beings. Thank you.
