Charity
Content
CHARITY: THE NOBLEST VIRTUE By Moin Qazi
An award winning poet, Moin Qazi holds a doctorate and is an independent researcher and consultant who has spent three decades in microfinance with State Bank of India, India’s largest bank, where he was involved in microfinance as a grassroots manager and as head of its microfinance operations in Maharashtra. He belongs to the first batch of managers of commercial banks who were associated with the launch of India’s microfinance programme. He writes regularly on development finance and environmental issues. He was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Manchester specializing in microfinance.
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. Tagore’s poignant feelings add resonance to Mother Teresa’s conviction. Says Tagore: “I have found it impossible to soothe suffering patients from a song of Kabir…. When all about me are dying for want of food the only occupation permissible for me is to feed the hungry.” When the great Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti was asked to explain the highest form of devotion which endeared man to God, he said: “Develop river-like generosity, sun- like bounty and earth — like hospitality.” In the eyes of God, no penitence, no prayer, no vigil has greater significance than removing the misery of fellow human beings, bringing consolation to distressed hearts, and helping the downtrodden. For the Sufis service to mankind is the highest form of worship. It is prayer in action. It is love of God that finds its most exalted expression in the service of fellow beings. It is also a love that knows no boundary. Another great Sufi Khwaja Nizamuddin mentions the story of Abraham, the first prophet of monotheism. Abraham never took his meals without a guest. One day he found himself with a polytheist He hesitated in giving food to this man till the divine admonition came to him: “Abraham! How is it that we can give life to this man yet you cannot give him food?” The message is clear: A traveller of the illuminated path transcends all barriers of cult or race, caste, gender, language, geography in helping his fellow creatures. The messages of those great savants contain one essential truth: that is love. This is the seed which gives birth to the finer values of life. In fact, love is the mother of all virtues. If you love, you will be loved. Love, family and friends enrich one’s life more than any amount of wealth. But you need to make continual investments of friendliness, affection and love to keep the system fully functioning. The dynamics of happiness are asymmetrical. Fulfilment comes from giving, not receiving. The fact that
1
so many people in the world are still disappointed, frustrated and unfulfilled despite the fact they live in opulence compared to many others is evidence that they have only received. And the real magic of giving lies in the way you give. Give with your whole being, your whole heart — remember, half a seed cannot germinate. And after planting your seeds, expect absolutely nothing in return; give without remembering you gave and take without forgetting you took. A person who makes anonymous donations to a good cause is far more pious than one who wants the world to know what a good man he is…. When giving in charity, it is nobler to follow the Biblical injunction. “Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand doeth Whatever impurities may have sullied their souls due to indulgence in worldly pleasures vanishes. Charity brings a feeling of godliness. More and more people are developing the vision of voluntarism. They realise that their life belongs to the whole community, and as long as they live they should regard it as their privilege to do whatever they can for the community, Bernard Shaw expressed this sentiment in memorable words:
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little cod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch that I have got hold of for the moment.
Swami Vivekanand poignantly declared:
This life is short. The vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive…love never fails: today or tomorrow or ages after, truth will triumph. Love your fellow human beings. Do not care for doctrines, do not care for dogmas, or sects. They count for little compared to the essence of existence in each man, which is spirituality.
St. Francis of Assisi was born into a prospering class at a time of European plenty. To encourage riches, the church preached industry, a get-ahead attitude that had little regard for outcasts, for lepers, for the poor. The revelation of Francis was that poverty was holy and that the spirit approached God when in want. He kissed lepers and gave away his possessions. The church saw his ideals as a dangerous communism and undermined him. Yet Francis changed the face of sanctity: heaven was now in the face of the object and in the horror of disease. Lenin said if there had been 10 Francis, there would have been no need for revolution. The Sherpa porter and the New Zealand beekeeper who conquered Everest proved that life below could also be fine and the spirit of man magnanimous. Tempted by the little minded to claim that he had reached the summit first, the Sherpa porter replied: “We went together. We were tied together. No man’s single effort can put him on top of the world.”
2
The mystics and saints harnessed their efforts to direct people to a life of piety and righteousness and sought to establish an order that would ensure the ascendancy of rectitude and justice in human affairs. They expounded a concept of religion that went beyond the mechanical observances of a set of outward rules. True religious life, they exclaimed, called for earnestness of purpose and sincere commitment to pursue the substance of righteousness and benevolence and not merely its form. The proponents of this lovely message were themselves paragons of pietistic austerity and moral excellence. Andrew Carnegie was a poor Scottish immigrant turned millionaire who came to symbolise the opportunity for social mobility that some call the American Dream. He formed the Carnegie Steel Corporation and his profits from the steel industry made him one of the wealthiest men in the United States. Also a noted philanthropist, Carnegie gave away some $350 million mostly to build public libraries and endow universities. For him money was not a means of pleasure but a tool to heal. There was another and much deeper purpose behind Carnegie’s moneymaking. When he died, there was found among his papers a little yellowed sheet covered with his own writing. It was a kind of plan for his life which he had written at the age of thirty-three, just when he first realised that he was going to be a very rich man. This is how it begins: “By this time two years I can arrange all my business as to secure at least 50,000 dollars per annum. Beyond this, never earn; make no effort to increase fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes.” The young Carnegie went on to say that he intended to retire at thirty-five, to settle in England and improve his education, to devote himself to public affairs, especially those connected with education and the poorer classes. He determined never to give way to the worship of money. In later years, Carnegie often real over this little document. He never forgot the ideal he had set before him. In his writings and conversation, the constantly declared that he would consider it disgraceful to die a rich man.” He believed that a rich man’s life should be divided into two parts, the first making money, and the second giving it away. This task of giving money away he believed to be as difficult and as important as making it. In a letter to him from a friend, this is plainly put: “I estimate the value of your life not so much by the wealth you have attained, or even the distribution of it, as in the fact that the whole sentiment of mankind will be affected by the principles which you have laid down and which you are putting into practice. It seems to me that your position in the history of social development will be that of the man who first compelled wealth to recognise its duties, not merely as a matter of moral obligations but of a decent self-respect on the part of men who control large fortunes.” This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: first, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community — the
3
man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves…. . Charity is the acme of excellence. But how is it to be cultivated? Aldous Huxley recalls the following record — delightful for what he calls its Boswellian vividness — of a conversation between the young Bishop of Belly and his beloved friend and master, Francois de Sales.
I once asked the Bishop what one must do to attain perfection. ‘You must love God with all your heart,’ he answered, ‘and your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘I did not ask wherein perfection lies,’ I rejoined, ‘but how to attain it.’ ‘Charity,’ he said again, ‘that is both the means and the end, the only way by which we can reach that perfection which is, after all, but charity itself…. Just as the soul is the life of the body, charity is the life of the soul.’ “I know all that,” I said, “But I want to know how one is to love God with all one’s heart and one’s neighbour as oneself.” But again he answered, “We must love God with all our hearts and our neighbours as ourselves.” “I am no further than I was”, I replied. “Tell me how to acquire such love.” ‘The best way, the shortest and easiest way of loving God with all one’s heart is to love him wholly and heartily!’ He would give no other answer. At last, however, the Bishop said: “There are many beside you who want me to tell them of methods and systems and secret ways of becoming perfect, and I can only tell them that the sole secret is a hearty love of God and the only way of attaining that love is by loving. You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so you learn to love God by loving. All those who think to learn kin any other way deceive themselves. If you want to love God, go on loving Him more and more. Begin as a mere apprentice; and the very power of love will lead you on to become master of the art. Those who have made most progress will continually press on, never believing themselves to have reached their end; for charity should go on increasing until we draw our last breath.”
Kahlil Gibran writes in The Prophet: “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” He further says that “there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; they give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.” Samiullah Khan Marg Sadar, Nagpur 440 001India Phone: +91 – 712 – 2533006
Cell: 9049638959 E-mail: [email protected]
4
An award winning poet, Moin Qazi holds a doctorate and is an independent researcher and consultant who has spent three decades in microfinance with State Bank of India, India’s largest bank, where he was involved in microfinance as a grassroots manager and as head of its microfinance operations in Maharashtra. He belongs to the first batch of managers of commercial banks who were associated with the launch of India’s microfinance programme. He writes regularly on development finance and environmental issues. He was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Manchester specializing in microfinance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
. Tagore’s poignant feelings add resonance to Mother Teresa’s conviction. Says Tagore: “I have found it impossible to soothe suffering patients from a song of Kabir…. When all about me are dying for want of food the only occupation permissible for me is to feed the hungry.” When the great Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti was asked to explain the highest form of devotion which endeared man to God, he said: “Develop river-like generosity, sun- like bounty and earth — like hospitality.” In the eyes of God, no penitence, no prayer, no vigil has greater significance than removing the misery of fellow human beings, bringing consolation to distressed hearts, and helping the downtrodden. For the Sufis service to mankind is the highest form of worship. It is prayer in action. It is love of God that finds its most exalted expression in the service of fellow beings. It is also a love that knows no boundary. Another great Sufi Khwaja Nizamuddin mentions the story of Abraham, the first prophet of monotheism. Abraham never took his meals without a guest. One day he found himself with a polytheist He hesitated in giving food to this man till the divine admonition came to him: “Abraham! How is it that we can give life to this man yet you cannot give him food?” The message is clear: A traveller of the illuminated path transcends all barriers of cult or race, caste, gender, language, geography in helping his fellow creatures. The messages of those great savants contain one essential truth: that is love. This is the seed which gives birth to the finer values of life. In fact, love is the mother of all virtues. If you love, you will be loved. Love, family and friends enrich one’s life more than any amount of wealth. But you need to make continual investments of friendliness, affection and love to keep the system fully functioning. The dynamics of happiness are asymmetrical. Fulfilment comes from giving, not receiving. The fact that
1
so many people in the world are still disappointed, frustrated and unfulfilled despite the fact they live in opulence compared to many others is evidence that they have only received. And the real magic of giving lies in the way you give. Give with your whole being, your whole heart — remember, half a seed cannot germinate. And after planting your seeds, expect absolutely nothing in return; give without remembering you gave and take without forgetting you took. A person who makes anonymous donations to a good cause is far more pious than one who wants the world to know what a good man he is…. When giving in charity, it is nobler to follow the Biblical injunction. “Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand doeth Whatever impurities may have sullied their souls due to indulgence in worldly pleasures vanishes. Charity brings a feeling of godliness. More and more people are developing the vision of voluntarism. They realise that their life belongs to the whole community, and as long as they live they should regard it as their privilege to do whatever they can for the community, Bernard Shaw expressed this sentiment in memorable words:
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little cod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch that I have got hold of for the moment.
Swami Vivekanand poignantly declared:
This life is short. The vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive…love never fails: today or tomorrow or ages after, truth will triumph. Love your fellow human beings. Do not care for doctrines, do not care for dogmas, or sects. They count for little compared to the essence of existence in each man, which is spirituality.
St. Francis of Assisi was born into a prospering class at a time of European plenty. To encourage riches, the church preached industry, a get-ahead attitude that had little regard for outcasts, for lepers, for the poor. The revelation of Francis was that poverty was holy and that the spirit approached God when in want. He kissed lepers and gave away his possessions. The church saw his ideals as a dangerous communism and undermined him. Yet Francis changed the face of sanctity: heaven was now in the face of the object and in the horror of disease. Lenin said if there had been 10 Francis, there would have been no need for revolution. The Sherpa porter and the New Zealand beekeeper who conquered Everest proved that life below could also be fine and the spirit of man magnanimous. Tempted by the little minded to claim that he had reached the summit first, the Sherpa porter replied: “We went together. We were tied together. No man’s single effort can put him on top of the world.”
2
The mystics and saints harnessed their efforts to direct people to a life of piety and righteousness and sought to establish an order that would ensure the ascendancy of rectitude and justice in human affairs. They expounded a concept of religion that went beyond the mechanical observances of a set of outward rules. True religious life, they exclaimed, called for earnestness of purpose and sincere commitment to pursue the substance of righteousness and benevolence and not merely its form. The proponents of this lovely message were themselves paragons of pietistic austerity and moral excellence. Andrew Carnegie was a poor Scottish immigrant turned millionaire who came to symbolise the opportunity for social mobility that some call the American Dream. He formed the Carnegie Steel Corporation and his profits from the steel industry made him one of the wealthiest men in the United States. Also a noted philanthropist, Carnegie gave away some $350 million mostly to build public libraries and endow universities. For him money was not a means of pleasure but a tool to heal. There was another and much deeper purpose behind Carnegie’s moneymaking. When he died, there was found among his papers a little yellowed sheet covered with his own writing. It was a kind of plan for his life which he had written at the age of thirty-three, just when he first realised that he was going to be a very rich man. This is how it begins: “By this time two years I can arrange all my business as to secure at least 50,000 dollars per annum. Beyond this, never earn; make no effort to increase fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes.” The young Carnegie went on to say that he intended to retire at thirty-five, to settle in England and improve his education, to devote himself to public affairs, especially those connected with education and the poorer classes. He determined never to give way to the worship of money. In later years, Carnegie often real over this little document. He never forgot the ideal he had set before him. In his writings and conversation, the constantly declared that he would consider it disgraceful to die a rich man.” He believed that a rich man’s life should be divided into two parts, the first making money, and the second giving it away. This task of giving money away he believed to be as difficult and as important as making it. In a letter to him from a friend, this is plainly put: “I estimate the value of your life not so much by the wealth you have attained, or even the distribution of it, as in the fact that the whole sentiment of mankind will be affected by the principles which you have laid down and which you are putting into practice. It seems to me that your position in the history of social development will be that of the man who first compelled wealth to recognise its duties, not merely as a matter of moral obligations but of a decent self-respect on the part of men who control large fortunes.” This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: first, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community — the
3
man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves…. . Charity is the acme of excellence. But how is it to be cultivated? Aldous Huxley recalls the following record — delightful for what he calls its Boswellian vividness — of a conversation between the young Bishop of Belly and his beloved friend and master, Francois de Sales.
I once asked the Bishop what one must do to attain perfection. ‘You must love God with all your heart,’ he answered, ‘and your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘I did not ask wherein perfection lies,’ I rejoined, ‘but how to attain it.’ ‘Charity,’ he said again, ‘that is both the means and the end, the only way by which we can reach that perfection which is, after all, but charity itself…. Just as the soul is the life of the body, charity is the life of the soul.’ “I know all that,” I said, “But I want to know how one is to love God with all one’s heart and one’s neighbour as oneself.” But again he answered, “We must love God with all our hearts and our neighbours as ourselves.” “I am no further than I was”, I replied. “Tell me how to acquire such love.” ‘The best way, the shortest and easiest way of loving God with all one’s heart is to love him wholly and heartily!’ He would give no other answer. At last, however, the Bishop said: “There are many beside you who want me to tell them of methods and systems and secret ways of becoming perfect, and I can only tell them that the sole secret is a hearty love of God and the only way of attaining that love is by loving. You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so you learn to love God by loving. All those who think to learn kin any other way deceive themselves. If you want to love God, go on loving Him more and more. Begin as a mere apprentice; and the very power of love will lead you on to become master of the art. Those who have made most progress will continually press on, never believing themselves to have reached their end; for charity should go on increasing until we draw our last breath.”
Kahlil Gibran writes in The Prophet: “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” He further says that “there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; they give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.” Samiullah Khan Marg Sadar, Nagpur 440 001India Phone: +91 – 712 – 2533006
Cell: 9049638959 E-mail: [email protected]
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