Oct 2013
Recently, one lady asked me, "I can't find time to do charity as I need to work and help support the family".
My answer: You are right. However, you need to adjust the concept of charity a little.
If a person can't even help build a family, how to build a country? If you can't even take care of your children and husband first, how do you take care of other people's children and spouse?
On the other hand, it is not an excuse that because your are tired after helping your family, you got no time for others. Firstly, you must understand charity is from the heart before it becomes an act. If your heart has charity, you will find all ways and means to plan time so that you can give your little share. The other misconception is that charity must go to children's home or old age home or contribute to an organisation. No, when your neighbour in need, you give a helping hand. When your friend's sad, you give a listening ear. Build what is around you first before you move to the outer circle. These are charity.
Then another question came to me, "Can I chant a buddhist scripture to bless others since I don't have time to help others?"
My Answer: You can pray anything you like but if you have this little time to pray and instead use it to help others, the weightage is more than chanting 1080 times. Of course if you can afford both praying and helping, its even better.
A young man came to me and asked my opinion. "I like to become a monk so that I can help others. What do you think?"
My reply: "Have you married before? Do you have children before? Have you been poor before?Have you experience serious illness before? Do you know what are hardships? Loss of love ones before? Been addicted to anything before and recover from it? "
There are monks who never experience all or some of the life's path. There are different realms of cultivation. A person who has the heart of cultivation and had gone through the experience, will then come out of each realm a better state as compared to a monk without such experience, trying to cultivate to another higher level. If a monk don't know the pain of losing a loved one, how can he help others by consoling them?
However, if you have experienced lost of a loved one, felt the excruciating pain and sorrow. You know better how to help the victim and feel for the victim. Help is needed everywhere, one does not need to become a monk in order to help others.
空不是真空
In achieving quietness and emptiness, experiencing time after time and able to have complete self controlled is better than to avoid. This is toward true emptiness. By avoiding any possible enticement from life in solitary is fake emptiness.
Until the day you leave the shell, you can still practise emptiness within a system.
So helping others can help anytime.
要清理业障, 是须经过不在重 犯的过程
这才是向空.
而坐空, 谈空, 想空是虚空
For me very simple, "Practise what you preach"
达摩曰: 诸佛法印,非从人得
Dec 2013
I have quite some similar questions regarding charity after writing the above.
Q: Master, I have been donating money to temples and charity organisations. Is this good enough? Why recently I'm still having bad luck and not being blessed for my doings?
A: 修之于身，其德乃真
修之于帮，其德乃丰
修之于天下，其德乃普
上善若水，积善阴德
Charity is selfless, do without motive, give without expectation, no awareness, no competition, clear conscience, accomodating, no benefits.
"Let not your right hand know what your left hand is doing"