Reply #26: Don't play as if I'm ignorant [View All]

[NMMNG]

I am not.

Buddhism teaches its adherents to be generous and charitable just as Christianity. Helping the poor is just one thing Buddhists do as part of Engaged Buddhism, a much broader movement to address the social ills of the world. The biggest difference between Engaged Buddhism and Christian Charity is that Engaged Buddhism does not proselytize or require recipients of their services to convert to their religion to receive services like Christianity often does.


From the 14 Precepts of Engaged Buddhism:

1
Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

snip

3
Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrow-mindedness.

snip

5
Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.

snip

9
Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things of which you are not sure. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.

snip

12
Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and prevent war.

snip
http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/resources/14_precepts.html

Many Christian charities could learn much from these precepts.




More on engaged Buddhism:

http://www.dharmanet.org/engaged.html

http://www.engagedpage.com/

http://www.peckham.demon.co.uk/neb.htm



And something on Buddhism and Charity/generosity in general:

To be a real Buddhist is just to take the Triple Gem as one's guide, that is to say, if anyone puts his or her faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, he or she is regarded as a Buddhist. This is according to the answer of the Buddha to Prince Mahanama's question about being a Buddhist.
There is advice for the progress in practice called the Basis of Merit Making as taught by the Buddha as follows:
1. Charity or generosity (Dana)
2. Morality (Sila) and
3. Development of meditation which is of two kinds, namely: tranquility of the mind and spiritual insight (Bhavana).
From the above mentioned principle it is clear that charity and serving society in the way of giving a helping hand and other spiritual practices are regarded as the additional practices of being a Buddhist.
http://mahamakuta.inet.co.th/english/question.htm


And here is something of great interest:

Question
Why is it that you don't often hear of charitable work being done by Buddhists?

Answer
Perhaps it is because Buddhists don't feel the need to advertise about the good they do. Several years ago the Japanese Buddhist leader Nikkho Niwano received the Templeton Prize for his work in promoting inter-religious harmony. Likewise a Thai Buddhist monk was recently awarded the prestigious Magsaysay Prize for his excellent work among drug addicts. In 1987 another Thai monk, Ven. Kantayapiwat was awarded the Norwegian Children's Peace Prize for his many years of work helping homeless children in rural areas. And what about the large scale social work being done among the poor in India by the Western Buddhist Order? They have built schools, child minding centres, dispensaries and small scale industries for self sufficiency. Buddhists see help given to others as an expression of their religious practice just as other religions do but they believe that it should be done quietly and without self-promotion. Thus you don't hear so much about their charitable work.

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda01.htm

Yeah, that's right. There is no "Buddha 700 Club" where some guy gets on tv and rambles on about all the alleged good work he does while picking the pockets of his viewers dry. When Buddhists do good work they just do it and go on with their lives. As they should. No Pharisees there.









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