Sunday, February 1, 2015

The Conditions of Being Generous

Generosity has conditions and timing. We cannot be very generous at all times and assist anyone asking help from us or give out money to people without knowing where the money goes and how it is spent.

Someone criticized me when I post a comment on fb saying 'I normally don't give out money to beggars on the street.' He said that I should have a good heart and give out money to those beggars who cannot self sustain. I suddenly felt blamed. I was blamed that I didn't have a heart good enough to care for others. Perhaps I used to be so that embedded this thinking in him. Undoubtedly he thinks so as he has never seen me handing even a hundred riels to a beggar I suppose.

It's true that normally I don't give money to beggars on the streets as I don't wanna support them in this way. What if they simple feel motivated to just continue to beg for living? What if there is someone manipulates them to beg money and benefits the villains behind the scene? I really don't like helping in this way. First I don't know if I am really helping them. Second I don't feel I have actually helped them from their current situation. I have seen the same girl begging of the street every morning at a traffic light. I don't think I will help her out by just giving money to her every day. That's actually destroying her. And that's what I meant of not giving money to the beggars on the streets.

Generosity is conditioned. It is conditioned to the kind of people who we should help and at the time when we should help. I regret that I have not helped many people until now. I will when I can from this second onward if it is apparently for good cause.

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