Master Ji Qun: Charity Spirit

Looking around the world, many Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs have set an example for charity, but charity has also attracted criticism. People often complain that some charities cannot make good use of their donations because of unfavorable supervision and management; There are also entrepreneurs whose charity is considered as hype; More recipients are becoming lazy and not motivated. All this makes people often sigh that "people are not old." So, how do these things that are contrary to "goodness" come into being? What is the core of charity? How to make good use of donations? To this end, the reporter specially visited Master Ji Qun, director of Zhuang Jie Buddhist Institute in Xiyuan, Suzhou.

Reporter: What is the core spirit of charity in your eyes?

Master Ji Qun: It's compassion. Charity should be based on pure sympathy and nothing else. In fact, each of us will have more or less compassion, but this compassion is often narrow and conditional. For example, people who have a relationship with me or have a good impression are at least not disgusted, even if they are irrelevant, they are always inseparable from personal likes and dislikes. But the compassion advocated by Buddhism has a deeper connotation? That is, "heartless, sad with the same body." The so-called "no mercy" means giving happiness equally, regardless of relatives and friends. The so-called empathy means that you are no different from others, and all the sufferings of all beings can be empathetic. Only in this way can we achieve complete compassion.

Buddhism also believes that true compassion is to help people solve the pain of life, not only material problems, but also spiritual troubles; It refers not only to practical problems, but also to life and death. From the perspective of Buddhism, the heart is the root of all problems. Only by removing the eternal confusion and inner ignorance in human life can we fundamentally eradicate the root of pain and get happiness.

Reporter: In the modern society where commercial culture and social utilitarianism prevail, many people can't find the balance point of gain and loss because of the great pressure of survival. They are swayed by considerations of gain and loss, and take whatever they want, including charity. Many times, charity has no power, but it is suspected, insulted, and even repaid with evil. Faced with this situation, how to cultivate your so-called compassion? How to push people's hearts closer to goodness?

Master Ji Qun: To weigh the gains and losses, we first need to have a correct understanding of cause and effect. There are two kinds of cause and effect, one is external cause and effect, that is, the objective result caused by words and deeds; The first is internal cause and effect, that is, the quality of life gradually created by words and deeds. When many people do charity or promote charity, they just regard it as a moral behavior that the public respects. If we focus on this external cause and effect, we will often seek the recognition of the society or the recipient after paying. In return, this will inevitably be mixed with utilitarian heart and even become a disguised transaction. Or lose motivation because you can't see the timely return of doing good deeds. In fact, charity should be a conscious act from compassion. In practice, compassion will grow, personality will be improved and quality of life will be improved. This is the greatest reward for doing good. It is not how the outside world views it, nor whether the recipient is grateful or misunderstood. If we realize this and the significance of charity to the improvement of life, we will have a steady stream of motivation, just as people will pursue it tirelessly when they realize the importance of career and wealth.

As for promoting "people's will to be good", we should start from two aspects. The first is to help people correctly understand the significance of charity for the improvement of their own lives, that is, immediate interests (making their hearts soft and happy) and long-term interests (improving the quality of life). Secondly, we should vigorously carry forward the noble moral concepts in traditional culture, such as benevolence advocated by Confucianism, universal love called by Mozi, and the spirit of mercy and salvation advocated by Mahayana Buddhism, which are indispensable foundations for casting the quality of compassion.

Psychological care is more important than simple material help.

Reporter: What charitable activities are temples mainly engaged in at present?

Master Ji Qun: There are two main kinds of charitable activities in temples. One is to focus on the spirit, and help people to establish a correct outlook on life and a healthy lifestyle through lectures, meditation, books, periodicals, audio and video, so that they can have a good attitude in various positive and negative realms and have the courage and wisdom to face problems directly. The second is to give priority to material things, and help those who encounter difficulties through poverty alleviation, helping orphans, free clinic medication, and nursing students.

Reporter: What is the relationship between economic assistance and psychological care in the charity you mentioned? How to care for people's mental health?

Master Ji Qun: The goals of economic relief and psychological comfort are the same, both of which are to help us build a happy life. Because economic foundation and good attitude are two major parts of happiness index, among which attitude is more important. Without a good attitude, even if you are worth hundreds of millions, you can only bring some temporary satisfaction, but you can't get long-term stable happiness from it. We can see in our life that some people can be content with the same material conditions and living environment, while others are complaining and worrying. What is the reason? It is precisely because of the different mentality.

Although economic relief is important, the problems it can solve are temporary and partial. If we don't start from the root cause, people will constantly seek help from the outside world, and even have bad psychology such as laziness and dependence because of being helped. Therefore, while solving material problems, we should also help the public to establish a positive and healthy mentality and alleviate the psychological foundation that causes pain. What Buddhism says about purdah sentient beings is to make them happy from both material and spiritual aspects.

From common sense, only mental patients need psychological help. In fact, ordinary people also need psychological help or guidance. All human problems are ultimately due to ignorance of life itself, which is what Buddhism calls ignorance. Because you can't see the truth of life clearly, you will have a wrong outlook on life and form all kinds of vicious needs. Many people are busy with these misconceptions and chaotic emotions all their lives. It's really hard! What Buddhism calls liberation is to guide people out of the misunderstanding of the mind.

Reporter: through what channels does the temple establish contact with the helpers? As far as you know, how many organizations and individuals have established helping relationships and helped how many people?

Master Ji Qun: Generally speaking, there are three channels: first, the vulnerable groups come to the door themselves; second, the believers or related institutions introduce them; and third, they find the help objects by visiting the volunteer community. In addition, Buddhist departments, charities and other institutions in monasteries have many interactive relationships with orphanages, nursing homes, welfare homes, rescue stations and non-governmental mutual aid organizations in society, and participate in the rescue of sudden disasters in various places, but I don't know how many people have received charitable assistance from Buddhism.

How to make good use of donations?

Reporter: How is Buddhist charity distributed in the collection, use and management of donations? How to make the most effective use of these donations and ensure that they are used by those who need them most?

Master Ji Qun: There are three main sources of Buddhist charity:

First, special donations from believers. The second is the merit money or other income of the temple. Third, from the membership fees paid by members.

What is the original purpose of the donation? Designate the purpose according to the wishes of the donor. Donors who have no clear intention can make overall arrangements. In Buddhist organizations, the management of funds mainly starts from two aspects: establishing system, strict management and strengthening causal concept. As a participant in charity, you must have compassion for the world and believe in cause and effect. On this basis, it is guaranteed by a standardized financial system.

In terms of use, it is mainly used for large-scale disaster relief and the publication of legal books, in addition to traditional charitable projects such as helping the poor, helping orphans, giving medicines to free clinics and protecting students. In the specific implementation process, the donation is effectively used mainly through the operation processes such as prior visit, special implementation and follow-up afterwards.

As for spreading the idea of goodness to the public, I think the key lies in a correct understanding of goodness. There is also a lot of publicity about good people and deeds in the society, but it may not make people see Siqi except touching everyone. Original? Why? It is precisely because the life value of charity and its significance to the improvement of life have not been deeply revealed, which must be adjusted from the concept. Then, through effective ways such as * * * attention and media power, this concept will be passed on.

Reporter: Now more and more people are involved in charity, and many entrepreneurs and celebrities are actively involved in charity activities. What do you think of this problem?

Master Ji Qun: This is a good phenomenon, which means that their material level and life pursuit have improved, and they begin to have more sense of social responsibility. But the key to judging a certain behavior is to look at motivation, which is "motivation". As far as charity is concerned, there are different motives, some may be out of compassion, some may be utilitarian, and even put momentum first. But only doing it with compassion is true charity. Otherwise, even if it helps the poor objectively, these behaviors themselves will be discounted, and it is difficult to play much role in improving the quality of life.

In addition, as more and more enterprises, organizations and individuals come to do charity, it is also necessary to improve the corresponding policy mechanism, and at the same time, it is also necessary for the competent authorities to innovate their concepts to provide guidance and norms for the emergence of more non-governmental charities. Otherwise, large water sources, small exports and congestion of charitable resources are all wastes.