Charity in a sense is a virtue that promotes unlimited loving kindness towards all living beings.
People who have this virtue indeed have immense levels of universal love within them. Such love is contagious and immediately spreads to those around them.
It is however little disturbing to see how this noble virtue has been misconstrued a bit in today's modern world.
There has been a trend for non profit organizations in developed nations to organize volunteering activities of several kinds like marathons, cultural shows etc etc. People are enticed to participate in such fund raising activities for several reasons such as these
- helps them reach their fitness goals
- peer pressure / to gain popularity among friends
- helps them make new friends
- donations made are tax deductible
- participate for the simple pleasure of whiling away the hours
I am NOT attempting to say that volunteering for these above reasons is bad. The funds raised are indeed for a good cause and something is definitely better than nothing. I admire such organization's work towards team building and giving back to the society. But it is indeed bit sad to see participants/donors get self conceited and bask in the false sense of accomplishment upon pursuing such events.
If only we realize that this noble selfless virtue (charity) can be inculcated in our every day lives as well by doing simple random acts of kindness, the world would definitely be filled with truly humane people.
Simple Humane gestures likes these
Lending your only jacket to the friend beside you on a cold winter night
A friendly smile to a stranger we walk past the road
Holding the door for the person behind us( whether they be a friend or a stranger)
Offering an empathetic listening ear to a troubled friend
Offering a friend/acquaintance a place to stay for the night
Dropping some change for the homeless on the road
Getting food for a sick friend/acquaintance
the list goes on ...
will truly help us manifest/spread the inherent abundant love and joy within us to the world around us!
With that said, I am no exception as well . Seeing myself and friends/acquaintances around me participate in such events is what that prompted me to write this post!
I could try making pretense statements that I am attempting to do a form of vidhya-dhaana(knowledge charity) by helping the poor kids of Costa Rica get a high school building for free through my hard manual labor. Honestly I do not know if I am doing this for that sole noble purpose alone. This week long volunteering event has a fund raising goal of $2000. I had a great deal of learning done from my previous fund raising experience. It was not easy. This time my goal is even bigger goal.
I am really not sure whether or not being genuinely honest about my intentions will help me reach my goal. The answer to which I will know next month end!
Even otherwise it's all the experience that counts and I am grateful with life for this unique opportunity to make a tiny bit difference to the world around me.
If you have come up to this far end of the post, do click the link below. I am sure you wont regret it !
Donate and Ride the Wave of Joy With Me
People who have this virtue indeed have immense levels of universal love within them. Such love is contagious and immediately spreads to those around them.
It is however little disturbing to see how this noble virtue has been misconstrued a bit in today's modern world.
There has been a trend for non profit organizations in developed nations to organize volunteering activities of several kinds like marathons, cultural shows etc etc. People are enticed to participate in such fund raising activities for several reasons such as these
- helps them reach their fitness goals
- peer pressure / to gain popularity among friends
- helps them make new friends
- donations made are tax deductible
- participate for the simple pleasure of whiling away the hours
I am NOT attempting to say that volunteering for these above reasons is bad. The funds raised are indeed for a good cause and something is definitely better than nothing. I admire such organization's work towards team building and giving back to the society. But it is indeed bit sad to see participants/donors get self conceited and bask in the false sense of accomplishment upon pursuing such events.
If only we realize that this noble selfless virtue (charity) can be inculcated in our every day lives as well by doing simple random acts of kindness, the world would definitely be filled with truly humane people.
Simple Humane gestures likes these
Lending your only jacket to the friend beside you on a cold winter night
A friendly smile to a stranger we walk past the road
Holding the door for the person behind us( whether they be a friend or a stranger)
Offering an empathetic listening ear to a troubled friend
Offering a friend/acquaintance a place to stay for the night
Dropping some change for the homeless on the road
Getting food for a sick friend/acquaintance
the list goes on ...
will truly help us manifest/spread the inherent abundant love and joy within us to the world around us!
With that said, I am no exception as well . Seeing myself and friends/acquaintances around me participate in such events is what that prompted me to write this post!
I could try making pretense statements that I am attempting to do a form of vidhya-dhaana(knowledge charity) by helping the poor kids of Costa Rica get a high school building for free through my hard manual labor. Honestly I do not know if I am doing this for that sole noble purpose alone. This week long volunteering event has a fund raising goal of $2000. I had a great deal of learning done from my previous fund raising experience. It was not easy. This time my goal is even bigger goal.
I am really not sure whether or not being genuinely honest about my intentions will help me reach my goal. The answer to which I will know next month end!
Even otherwise it's all the experience that counts and I am grateful with life for this unique opportunity to make a tiny bit difference to the world around me.
If you have come up to this far end of the post, do click the link below. I am sure you wont regret it !
Donate and Ride the Wave of Joy With Me
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