Spiritual Blog:What is charity?

Some time back after retuning from a free health check-up camp, I met a processor of Cardiology from Lucknow and started boosting that I saw 100 patients free today.  He said do not get excited.  Charity is a positive, but still not the absolute positive, unless it is done without any motive or done secretly.  He said that you were honoured on the stage, you got blessings from the patients and people talked about you in positive sense.  It was an investment in the long run and not an absolute charity.  When you serve never get honour on the stage by the people to whom you are serving.  If you get that then it is like give and take.  The purpose of life should be to help others without any expectations.

Understanding helping others.

When you help others, it should not end up in harming somebody else. If you help even if it is unconditional, if you end up in promoting no.2 by superseding another senior person who deserves is not a help as the person to whom you are helping will give you one blessing but the person to whom you have harmed will give you 10 curses. Ultimately you end up with minus 8 points.  Helping other means that you should give happiness to you, to the persons you have helped and also to others to whom you have not helped.

Helping always pays.

The difference between an American and Indian model is that Indians always think of now and do not invest in future.  Americans always plans for the future.  When we help somebody, we want that the same person should expect you by helping you when you are in need in a shorter run.  But charity does not believe in that.  Your job is to help others and negate your negative past karmas.  You never know, may be decades later you get a help from a person to whom you helped decades earlier.  Help should never be linked to returns.