True Charity, Helping Others Without Worrying about if We Think They Deserve It | Video

We should help when we can. Help others and don’t stop to wonder if they deserve your help. This is true generosity.

 

By Daniel Scharpenburg

 

“If a poor man comes begging from you, give him what he needs, according to your means. Have great love and great compassion, considering him as if he were part of your own body. This is True Charity, True Sharing, True Giving.”
-So Sahn, Mirror of Zen

Generosity is one of the great ways we connect with other people.

Compassion and generosity can be hard to find at times, but our corner of the world is a better place if we strive to have more compassion and to be more generous. Some of us see a homeless person by the side of the road and we don’t want to help them. We think maybe they will use our money for drugs or alcohol—we think that they don’t deserve our help because we aren’t sure what they will do with it. We should treat others how we would treat ourselves.

Not only material things can be given, but also our time and attention. It’s said that generosity is one of the easiest virtues in Buddhism to practice because it’s so clearly defined.

We should help when we can. Help others and don’t stop to wonder if they deserve your help. This is true generosity.

In this video I unpack a verse from Mirror of Zen on the subject of generosity. I hope you like it.

 

 

Photo: Pixabay

Editor: Dana Gornall

 


 

Were you inspired by this post? You might also like:

 

My Mystical Journey: Lineage & Letter Writing. {Part 9}

  By Daniel Scharpenburg   A brief history lesson: Ch’an Master Xu Yun lived to be 120. He lived from the mid 1800s until the mid 1900s and never traveled to the West—but many westerners traveled to the East to learn from him and his influence is felt here....

Wandering Through the Moments with Mindfulness

  By Deb Avery “Not all who wander are lost.” J.R.R. Tolkien As the sun illuminates the water in the birdbath it sparkles more brilliantly than any diamond. As I walk by on my morning walking meditation, I breathe the grace and beauty and...

What Type of Meditation Did Bodhidharma Practice?

  By Robert Epstein What is the actual practice that Bodhidharma brought to China? Somewhere around 500 AD, Bodhidharma was sent by his teacher---the female sage Prajnatara---to bring the practice of Buddhist Dhyana (Jhana/Ch’an/Zen) to China, thus starting the...

The Rise of Tantrism in the West: Not Just a Sex Trend for White Privileged People

Along with the aesthetic of orgasms and hedonism, comes an implicit endorsement of financial success, ample leisure and white privilege.

Comments

comments