[Buddha-l] Reaching out to others in charity

[Evelyn Ruut]

John Willemsens asked:

"Is it not as a Buddhist that a Buddhist becomes a member of the Rotary Club, 
etc.?"

I never much thought about it John.   Maybe so.   I am a buddhist, but I was also a businesswoman when asked to go to my first Rotary meeting.   I went, I liked what I saw, so I joined.   That was in 1991.   I am still a Rotarian and very proud of that fact, as you probably noticed from my previous posting.   Today it was announced at my little local Club that we just gave $4,000 to install water purification equipment in several villages in Honduras.   These will save many lives every year.  Would it be better to just say mantras for these folks?   I think not, though mantra practice is probably a very good thing, and it makes me feel good to know that a whole lot of little kids aren't going to die of gastro-enteritis because of us, but it makes a whole lot of difference to those little kids. 

As someone so aptly pointed out, buddhist organizations are not primarily charitable, and that is fine with me.   I prefer keeping them separate.   If I went to the Rotary Club and they began to teach me religion I don't think I would appreciate it any more than if I went to my dharma center and was hustled hard for charitable cash.   This is not meant as a criticism of religious centers who have charitable outreach programs at all, just the way it is for me just now.

Best Regards,

Evelyn
 
"Since everything is but an apparition, perfect in being what it is, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst into laughter."    -Longchenpa
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