Buddhist Sangha and Social Welfare

As a Boddhisatta (to be Buddha), the Buddha’s first priority was to strive for the welfare and good of all beings (Lokaṭṭhacariya). By striving for the welfare and good of all beings and by striving to perfect himself, he was able to become the Buddha. Therefore, as disciples of the Buddha, we Sangha should diligently endeavor to work for the benefit and good of all beings, while we are striving for enlightenment. Like the Buddha, we must do both efforts simultaneously in this and every lifetime.

It is not possible for a man to live alone in the world today. No matter who or where we are, in some way or another, we have to live in a society where we associate or communicate with others. Even the recluse monk who dwells in a forest monastery is not exempt. Each day he must go on an alms-round to nearby homes or villages, as he depends upon these donors for his food. In return, these donors depend upon the monk to provide spiritual guidance, and for him to provide blessings for their safety, or for him to radiate his loving-kindness and compassion. In the present world, everybody is needy and everybody is responsible to fulfill the needs of others, even if they are one who has renounced the world.

When we look in to the daytime sky we see the sun, which radiates its warm light upon us. While at nighttime it is the coolness of moonlight, which radiates down upon us.  Though they turn and radiate separately, and though they don’t directly touch the earth, the sun and moon provide the earth and each us many benefits: for this we are grateful. However, the sun and the moon do not expect anything in return from us. So to, we Sangha need to treat ourselves like an example of the sun and moon. We should not expect anything from others while we radiate our light upon those in-needs by providing social and spiritual leadership, and guidance.

By performing social welfare works for the benefit of others, lay-people will be happy, thankful and grateful because they receive social, in addition to religious benefits from us. As long as we provide for the world, just as the sun and the moon provides it’s warm and cool light, we too will receive tremendous gratitude. Accordingly, our missionary works will never fail.

      Our missionary projects will only succeed when we perform our duties by balancing social and religious works. However, when we perform these duties we must do so without any discrimination toward others and we should not be seeking to convert them. It does not matter what a person of class, cast, creed, color, religion, etc. is, because all people are needy. When looking at those in need we must look towards their benefit only. The list is endless because they may need some mental, spiritual, moral, cultural, or material support just to name a few. So from a missionary point of view the only conversion that needs to be done is convert those from in ignorance to enlightenment.

There are two very important qualities that are needy by us as religious or social leaders when performing our missionary and social works. They are wisdom (Paññā) and compassion (Karuṇā). And when these two qualities are developed harmoniously and equally, only then can we properly say that the qualities of a leader are perfect. I would like to say that wisdom is like the radiance of the sun, while compassion is like the radiance of the moon.

Wisdom is the intellectual ability to reason, investigate and collect information and critique, when planning missionary and social works. It is the ability to design, estimate, construct and run the project, evaluate the results and make corrections when it’s ineffective. It is from the side of wisdom that man power, material power, money power and mind power drive our missionary work and social welfare projects to succeed. Therefore, wisdom means a quality of mind, its endeavour and strength is like radiance of the warmth from the sun.

When we look at the characteristics of compassion we see it as a perfect love, kindness, charity, sympathy and tolerance towards other beings. Each of these is a quality of the heart because each quality is soft and genteel, like the coolness we feel from the radiance of the moon. When a leader has these good feelings in his heart, he will be able to actually feel their suffering and feel their difficulty in his own heart.

Wisdom and compassion must go hand-in hand. A leader not only must be able to understand the suffering and difficulties of those in need thanks to his wisdom, but he should feel it in his heart. If someone has wisdom and education but lacks compassion, loving-kindness and development of insight (Bhāvanā), he will be a cruel or hard-hearted wise man. If someone has much compassion but no wisdom, his heart will be very soft and gentle, but he can do nothing for the world. Therefore, we should develop wisdom and compassion equally in order to become a perfect social and religious leader.

By having both wisdom and compassion on an equal level, we as leaders will be able to intellectually and compassionately look at all difficulties and sufferings. We will be able to look at them and be able to reason accordingly, “How can I, at the best of my ability, be able to resolve can start social welfare programs for their benefit. But we leaders must not attach to our work and we must not expect anything in return. We must only radiate our wisdom and compassion onto others, like that of the sun and moon’s light.

In the case of solution of problem of life, the Buddha’s teachings are able to indivisibly find the exact solution with the reality of life and suffering of mankind. They clearly show that establishment or form of the life and aggregates of mankind as they really are. The Buddha opens or gives the knowledge of eyes to everyone for frank spirit, freedom of thought and logical or reasonable faith and worship. In the religious world history, the Buddha is a one who firstly strives for abolition of a system of slave, a system of discrimination of class and cast. He recognized no differences of all classes or casts or social groupings. All classes are equal or identical with each others. (Cattāro vaṇṇā samasamā). He treated them without making the slightest distinction or discrimination between them. (See Vasala Sutta, Soṇadaṇḍa Sutta).

The Buddha, with equal level, raised the life of despised courtesan Ambapālī, downtrodden outcast or scavenger Sunīta like the life of His sister Janapadakalyāṇī, His cousin Ānanda . The Buddha is one who made came to an end the thorny life of (human flesh eater and cruel) Ogre named Āḷāvaka, the thorny life of murder known as Aṅgulimāla etc. 

Before the popularity of home for the aged, of that age, Buddhist monasteries were shelter or refuge for homeless old men and women such as Brahmin Rādha, Bahudhītara, and Bahuputtikasoṇā etc who were discarded by their sons and daughters and who were very worn-out or disabled to struggle for their existence of a life. In the same way, before the age of Orphanage, they (orphanages) were Buddhist monasteries where breed or raised orphans like Sopāka, Saṃkicca and Losaka etc, from cemetery, alley or fork in a road.

In the history of religious leaders, the Buddha was first leader who served and waited on the sick person, person who is ill, as nurse. So He was the first fonder of the project of treatment of person who is chronic invalid (Gilānupaṭṭhāna). In the performance of such welfare and good of all beings (Lokatthacariya), compassion (Karuṇā), loving-kindness (Mettā), tolerance (Khantī), and morality are essential and vital qualities of the heart.

On the other hands, for noble spirit, wisdom (Paññā), endeavour (Vīriya), mindfulness (Sati), concentration (Samādhi) and truth is also essential theme of qualities. Therefore, those who will perform the welfare and good of all beings (Lokatthacariya), and philanthropy or social welfare work (Parahita), quite need to treat those who are suffering due to the five kinds of ruination or loss: viz: loss of kin (Ñātibyasana), loss of wealth or means (Bhogabyasana), deterioration of health due to illness (Rogabyasana), dissolution of morality or probity (Sīlabyasana) and dissolution of noble concepts (Diṭṭhibyasana) just like the radiance of coolness from the moon with compassion(Karuṇā), and like radiance of the warmth from the sun with wisdom(Paññā). They have to warmly treat such human world with above mentioned noble qualities. 
In conclusion, at this present time, in all spheres of life, whether individual, social or political, we can truly say that thoughts of ill will, enmity, violence and hatred are the result of a lack of compassion and wisdom in the world today.

Therefore, we religious leaders who currently are or will be performing social and religious works, should endow ourselves with these noble qualities, such as selfless renunciation, or detachment to one’s benefit, loving-kindness or non-hatred, non- enmity and non-violence. I would like to say that only then, the knowledge or wisdom that we have learned would become true wisdom.

 

 

 

Venerable Dr. Ashin Nyanissara
Sāsanadhajadhammācariya,
Mahādhammakathikabahujanahitadhara
Aggamahāsaddhammajotikadhaja
Aggamahāganthavācakapaṇḍita
Aggamahāpaṇḍita
(D. Litt; Ph.D)
Chancellor, Sītagū International Buddhist Academy
Sagaing, Myanmar
 

 

 

Translated by 

Ashinsutacaralankara, 

(Double M.A, PhD Thesis)
Sītagū International Buddhist Academy
Sagaing, Myanmar
Finished Date = 21, 8, 2008