As July 4th approaching, it is once again the time for celebrating the birth of one of the first democratic countries in the world. In a time of huge disparity between haves and have-nots, high inflation, economic recession, technology dispution/destruction and possibilites of World War III outbreak, my mind kept on wondering from Great Master YinGuang who Nivarnaed on December 2 1940 （1940年农历冬月初四 ， 圆瑛法师：印光大师生西事实；又李炳南：印光大师圆寂十周年纪念回忆录 ）, then to the President Franklin Roosevlet’s Four Freedoms.
In State of Union Speech on January 6, 1941, 11 months before USA entered into WWII, President Franklin Roosevelt addressing the difficult question, why and if America would join World War II. Roosevelt lay out the principle people “everywhere in the world” ought to enjoy: Freedom of speech; Freedom of worship; Freedom from want; Freedom from fear. The address made a break with the long-held tradition of United States non-interventionism. Roosevlet outlined the U.S. role in helping allies already engaged in warfare, especially Great Britain and China.
Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms is very much in line with Buddha’s teaching about dana. Buddhism acknowledges that we exist in a vast network of life, continuously the recipients of the generosity of others. But there’s much more to giving than we think. There are three forms of dana, namely:
- Amisa dana (The gift of material things)
- Abhaya dana (The gift of life, protection from fear)
- Dharma dana (the gift of truth)
The United States 4th and 5th Amendments are a great example of gift of protetion from fear. And Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms goes beyond that listed in the Constitution. Roosevelt clarified his act of compassion with wisdom.
In Buddhism view, social breakdown cannot be separated from broader questions about the benevolence of the social order. Poverty means lacking the basic material requirements for leading a decent life free from hunger, exposure and disease. The solution to poverty-induced crime is not to punish severely but to enable people to provide for their basic needs. There is a causal relationship between material poverty and social deterioration. Lion’s Roar Sutra tell the story of a monarch who at first relied upon the Buddhist teachings but later began to rule according to his own ideas. He did not give property to the needy, with the result that poverty became widespread. Then, from the not giving of property to the needy, poverty became widespread, from the growth of poverty, the taking of what was not given increased, from the increase of theft, the use of weapons increased, from the increased use of weapons, the taking of life increased . . . (Digha-Nikaya iii 65). A Buddhist Perspective on Poverty written by David Loy, using many real life example to illustrates to us how Buddha integrate wisdom and compassion to go on a middle way in all his teaching.
In other sutras, however, the Buddha teaches that the greatest wealth is contentment (santutthi paramam dhanam). Material well-being has become increasingly important because of our loss of faith in any other possibility of fulfilment — for example, an afterlife in heaven with God, or the secular heaven of socialism, or even (when despairing over the ecological crisis) the future progress of humankind. Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, one of the “poorest” countries in Asia, has been at the forefront of efforts to develop a new index for measuring human well-being: “gross national happiness.” The corrosive influence of economic globalization and its development institutions on other human values needs to be challenged.
According to the teaching of The Gradual Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim- stage of the path), we need to have a clear understanding of Worldly generosity versus far-reaching attitude of generosity In the normal act of generosity a person gives out of compassion and kindness when he realizes that someone else is in need of help, and he is in the position to offer the help. When a person performs dana, he gives as a means of cultivating charity as a virtue and of reducing his own selfishness and craving. He exercises wisdom when he recalls that dana is a very important quality to be practised by every Buddhist, and is the first perfection (paramita)practised by the Buddha in many of His previous births in search for Enlightenment. A person performs dana in appreciation of the great qualities and virtues of the Triple Gem. While the act of giving is purely out of compassion or good will, or the desire for someone else’s well-being, dana is more about how we are than what we do.
Buddha taught us that when giving, a person should not just perform the act, but should with his heart and mind as well. There must be joy in every act of giving. Dana is not meant to be obligatory or done reluctantly. Rather, dana should be performed when the giver is “delighted before, during, and after giving.” At its most basic level, dana in the Buddhist tradition means giving freely without expecting anything in return. But giving should be evaluated by your ability and capacity, that is by your good judgement and wisdom.
Buddhists also argue that the reason one doesn’t hear so much about Buddhist charity is that Buddhism doesn’t seek publicity for charity. English translation of Letters From Patriarch Yin Kuang will show us much more about the THOUGHTS FROM GREAT MASTER YIN GUANG. 中国佛教协会：大德风范 高山仰止。
