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Monday 19th November 2001
Pause for Thought -
Real Charity
Krishna
Dharma
"I've been thinking about charity, Terry. I was impressed with the
amounts raised by the BBC's Children in Need appeal. A terrific effort.
But it got me thinking about charity in general. How can we really help
people? I'm sure, Terry, that you, like me, have been stopped in the street
many times by beggars. I know I'm always in a quandary whether or not
to donate. On the one hand I want to help what often looks like an obvious
case of need, but on the other hand I'm wracked by doubts about what my
donation will be used for. Have I really helped the person if he spends
it on cigarettes, drink, or worse?
Of course, what we're trying to do when we give charity is alleviate
suffering. By giving money to the poor we hope to negate the cause of
their suffering, which we assume is their poverty, but is that always
true? But Hindu philosophy tells us to look at the deeper causes. It asks
why suffering exists at all. The fact that we try so hard to defeat it
surely indicates that misery is not our natural state.
Unless we know the real causes of suffering, we can't really do much
to help. We may just make things worse, like a quack doctor misdiagnosing
an illness and then prescribing the wrong medicine.
My spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, told a story of when he was a
young man in India. In his village a girl became ill with typhoid. The
doctor gave strict instructions that she should be given no food. But
when her parents were out she begged her brother for something to eat.
Feeling sorry for her, he gave her some bread, and her fever got worse.
When the parents returned they were furious and they punished the boy.
I will never forget Prabhupada's words, 'It was love,'he said, 'it was
compassion, but the result was pain.'
Of course, the Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, instruct us to look after
the needy, but they say that suffering is ultimately caused by transgressing
the universal laws of God. Surely then, Terry, the greatest need is to
understand and follow these laws, for only then will we bring an end to
all our pain." |
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