When we talk about giving and generosity, especially in relation to Buddhism, there's a lot of people who get a mental picture of a monk who has nothing in the world but the clothes on his back. These people often are the ones who, when hearing of your Buddhist studies, say: "You gonna' give away all you have and shave your head now?"
Their close-mindedness brings up not just their own narrow view-point, but an important facet of generosity - one that I think the modern-day Buddhist could do well to remember in this society where so much is based on material.
It's not about giving up all we have.
If we gave up everything - all our food, all our clothing, etc - to the poor, then the poor would then have all the things everyone else no longer had, re-creating the cycle of poverty is never broken.
That's not the Middle Way (see how that Middle Way keeps popping back up again?)
We have to learn to not take more than we need; not take what's not ours, and to share with those who do not have, without going into want ourselves.
As always, there is a balance.
Fletch
8 years ago
I love this post for two reasons: 1) it reiterates the concept of moderation (perhaps it could be called anti-extremism?) without hitting readers/oneself over the head with it, and 2) it helps, in a small way, to understand how to handle naysayers and objects of negativity. Kudos, and thanks for posting!
ReplyDelete