A Buddhist charity was giving out aids to the needy in terms of cash and kind for disaster relief. What was surprising to reporters was that various individuals from all walks of life were helped despite differences in race or religion with no questions asked. Most pleasantly surprised were those who came to seek donations. When asked about the rationale of the charity, a volunteer helper had this to share…
“The Buddha taught that as long as we are unenlightened, all of us experience suffering, regardless of who we are, and this suffering is largely the same in nature. If our suffering is not very different from the suffering of others, they is no need to differentiate who deserves more compassion. With this in mind, the Buddha encouraged the practice of equanimous and unconditional compassion.
“True love is so unconditional that not only is it blind to the colour or faith of its recipient, it is given freely with not a single string attached, with no demands of religious conversion or such, with no expectations of reciprocation. True love also encompasses all sentient beings who suffer like us, including animals. Of course, it is not challenging to practise this perfectly, but as the Buddha urged, practice does make perfect.
“It is totally natural to wish to help those we are closer with or are more familiar with first – such as family and friends. But the point of perfecting our giving is to continually stretch our limits of generosity - to be increasingly inclusive of more and more beings without bias. Only in this way can compassion eventually be perfected, made truly sublime and immeasurable as it is meant to be.
“On the Buddhist path of practice, it is an ideal to strive to walk the Bodhisattva path, to practise great generosity in various ways, that gives of one’s time, effort, wealth, comfort and wisdom to alleviate the suffering of other beings. In fact, it is only upon the perfection of generosity, along with other virtues, that we can become Buddhas – fully enlightened and liberated beings.
“When others heard of our charity’s impartial giving to the needy, this inspired more generous donations to support our cause. Unconditional love begets more unconditional love! This is how we can change the world together – by the boundless spread of compassion for one and all! I would like to hereby share one of my favourite verses from the Buddhist teachings by the great sage Shantideva (from ‘A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’) -
All the happiness there is in this worldArises from wishing others to be happy,And all the suffering there is in this worldArises from wishing ourself to be happy.”