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Real Charity

We perform real charity if we can give freely without expecting anything in return in order to reduce our selfish desires.

THE essence of true charity is to give something without expecting anything in return for the gift. If a person expects some material benefit to arise from the gift, he or she is only performing an act of bartering and not charity. A charitable person should not make other people feel indebted or use charity as a way of exercising control over them. One should not even expect others to be grateful, for most people are forgetful and not necessarily ungrateful. The act of true charity is wholesome, has no strings attached, and leaves both the giver and the recipient free from obligation.

The meritorious deed of charity is highly praised in every religion. Those who have enough to maintain themselves should think of others and extend their generosity to deserving cases. Among people who practise charity, there are some who give as a means of attracting others into their religion or politics. Such an act of giving which is performed with the ulterior motive of conversion cannot really be said to be true charity.

Those who are on their way to spiritual growth must try to reduce their own selfishness and strong desire for acquiring more and more. They should reduce their strong attachment to possessions which, if they are not mindful, can enslave them to greed. What they own or have should instead be used for the benefit and happiness of others: their loved ones as well as those who need help.

When giving, they should not perform charity as an act of their body alone, but with their heart and mind as well. There must be joy in every act of giving. A distinction can be made between giving as a normal act of generosity and dana. In the normal act of generosity we must give out of compassion and kindness when we realise that someone else is in need of help, and we are in the position to offer that help. When we perform dana, we give as a means of cultivating charity as a virtue and of reducing selfishness and craving. More importantly, dana is given with understanding, meaning that one gives to reduce and eradicate the idea of self which is the cause of greed, acquisitiveness and suffering. One exercises wisdom when one recalls that dana is a very important quality to be practised by every Buddhist, and is the first perfection (paramita) practised by the Buddha in many of His previous births before His Enlightenment. A person also performs dana in appreciation of the great qualities and virtues of the Triple Gem.

There are many things which we can give. We can give material things: food for the hungry, and money and clothes to the poor. We can also give our knowledge, skill, time, energy or effort to projects that can benefit others. We can provide a sympathetic ear and good counsel to a friend in trouble. We can restrain ourselves from killing other beings, and by so doing perform a gift of life to the helpless beings which would have otherwise been killed. We can also give a part of our body for the sake of others, such as donating blood, eyes, kidney, heart, etc. Some who seek to practise this virtue or are moved by great compassion or concern for others may also be prepared to sacrifice their own lives. In His previous births, the Bodhisatva had many a time given away parts of His body for the sake of others. He also sacrificed His life for the sake of others and to restore the other’s lives, so great was His generosity and compassion.

But the greatest testimony to the Buddha’s great compassion is His priceless gift to humanity—the Dharma which can liberate all beings from suffering. To the Buddhist, the highest gift of all is the gift of Dharma. This gift has great powers to change a life. When people receive the Dharma with a pure mind and practise the Truth with earnestness, they cannot fail to change. They will experience greater happiness, peace and joy in their heart and mind. If they were once cruel, they become compassionate. If they were once revengeful, they become forgiving. Through Dharma, the hateful becomes more compassionate, the greedy more generous, and the restless more serene. When a person has tasted Dharma, not only will happiness be experience here and now, but also in the lives hereafter.

Buddhist Attitude towards Human Organ Donations

From the Buddhist point of view, the donation of organs after one’s death for the purpose of restoring the life of another human being clearly constitutes an act of charity—which forms the basis or foundation of a spiritual or religious way of life.

Dana is the Pali term in Buddhism for charity or generosity. The perfection of this virtue consists of its practice in three ways, namely:

1. the giving or sharing of material things or worldly possessions;
2. the offering of one’s own bodily organs; and
3. the offering of one’s services for a worthy cause to save the life even at the risk of sacrificing one’s own life for the well being and happiness of others in need.

It is through such acts of charity that one is able to reduce one’s own selfish motives from the mind and begin to develop and cultivate the great virtues of loving kindness, compassion and wisdom.

The teaching of the Buddha is for the purpose of reducing suffering here and now, and to pave the way for the complete cessation of all forms of suffering.

The fear to participate in a noble act such as that of organ donation lies primarily in a lack of understanding of the real nature of existence.

There are some people who believe that when any part of their body or organ is removed, they will have to go without that organ in their next life or that they will not be eligible to enter the kingdom of heaven. There is no rational basis to such ideas.

From the Buddhist point of view, death takes place when one’s consciousness leaves the disintegrating material body. And, it is that relinking of consciousness, which determines one’s next life. Some religionists may call this relinking consciousness a “soul”, while others may call it “spirit” or “mental energy”. Whatever term is use, it is clear that it has nothing to do with material components of the body which subject are subject to—and which return to their respective sources of energy. The earth element returns to the soil; the water element returns to the streams, and the heat and elements return to the atmosphere. No matter how well the body is preserved, whether in a metal or wooden coffin, decomposition of the body is inevitable. It is only the consciousness, which goes on to the new rebirth.

Instead of allowing the organ to rot away and go to waste, today’s technology and surgical methods have enabled their component structures such as the heart and other organs to be used or transplant to restore life.

With the ever-increasing number of organ failure occurring in the country, the time has come for our more understanding members of the public to come forward and volunteer to donate their organs after their death for a worthy cause.

It is the duty of all understanding people to join in this noble cause to help to alleviate suffering humanity. Some time ago there was a car sticker which said, “Leave your organs behind, God known we need them here”.

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Редакция перевода от 03.07.2015 13:56