Helping others

The act of helping is expressed in many ways: by words that guide someone in how to do business or trade, by actions that do heavy work for someone, or by giving (almsgiving and offerings) property to someone. Through such help, others find life easier; that is, they become happier.

Each act of helping another creates one or more good karmic results for us in the future. For example, Mr Hai helped Mr Tám rebuild his house after a fire. Mr Hai's act of helping brought Mr Tám the following benefits:

- Mr Tám's family had a shelter, protection from rain and sun, and less illness.

- The belongings that remained, such as some clothes, beds and chairs, were stored properly and saved from loss.

- Mr Tám quickly steadied himself and rebuilt the family's finances.

- His family's sorrow was eased by seeing their neighbours' care and help.

Each benefit to Mr Tám's family will become a good karmic result for Mr Hai in the future.

Later, in this very life or in future lives, Mr Hai will usually have a secure home; he will not fall ill from being exposed to rain and sun; his belongings will seldom be lost because he has a safe place to keep them; he will steady his finances quickly; and he will always receive care and help from others.

If a person accumulates charitable karma throughout life and constantly helps everyone wholeheartedly, the karmic result for them is brilliant, glorious success in later lives.

In life there are people who "work lightly yet gain heavily"; the god of luck smiles on them, and all their plans go smoothly. Sometimes others are amazed at their unbroken run of good luck. It all stems from acts of helping others in the past! Lacking charitable deeds, our life will be less fortunate.

However, depending on the nature of the charitable deed, we will obtain our good karmic results in different ways later.

For example, if in a previous life we used words to advise others on the way to success, and thanks to that advice they reaped good results, then our later karmic result is that we easily and luckily receive good methods of action, but on the road of action we have to make an effort by our own ability, and receive little help in sharing the burden, because before we only helped others by showing them the way, and did not do the work "for" them. It is as though we pointed a person towards the western mountain to dig for gold but did not go and dig for them. Later, although we are also shown methods of doing business or trade (or of study), we have to do all of it by our own strength.

If we often help others with property, that is, by giving alms or offerings, so that others have wealth without spending effort, then the karmic result awaiting us is that we often meet with remarkable good luck in obtaining money without much toil, such as winning a lottery, finding a treasure, a business that profits beyond expectation, or inheriting the fortune of our forebears.

Lisa Marie Presley, at only 9 years old, inherited an enormous fortune from her father, the king of rock music, Elvis Presley, when he died of heart disease.

Some people buy by mistake a lottery ticket that wins the jackpot. One man bought a garden and dug up a pot of gold while renovating it.

Countless such cases of enjoying without working are the karmic result of great giving of property in former lives.

The majority of the rest must work to eat. Yet with the same hardship of mind and body, each person's success differs. Some start as itinerant buyers of scrap metal, carrying their load on their shoulders and calling out to buy bottles and scrap, and later become celebrated billionaires of their day, like Chú Hỏa in Chợ Lớn. Or a great tycoon like Âu Vinh, who once had money lent out all over old Saigon, now dies in Hong Kong without a coffin to be buried in. Âu Vinh in particular had one trait: he never gave the smallest coin in charity. "Tell them to work for their living!" was his answer to the fundraising group who came to see him.

The degree of our success in this life depends on the degree to which we helped others in a previous life. The more charitable karma, the greater the success.

Sometimes we look back over our lives and cannot help being startled and frightened. So many peaceful years have passed; we have worked and lived quietly. Now and then a few small, insignificant upheavals. But when we settle the account, it seems that throughout all that time we have done no good deed at all, have helped no one wholeheartedly and meaningfully. When we look back at this, we also "see" the next life: it seems no good fortune will come to us, and there will be no special success in the life that follows.

So not working diligently at charitable deeds is a mistake, a lack of understanding, a serious shortcoming in life.

In another respect, the karmic result of helping depends on the one who is helped. Suppose we help a noble Saint, so that this Saint lives a beautiful, holy life with boundless inner peace and perfect, wonderful morality. The goodness spreads further to many others when that saint preaches about morality, meditation and liberation to everyone. With such an "object", helping, that is, making offerings, brings an extremely glorious karmic result in the future. We have sown seeds on infinitely fertile soil and will reap a bumper harvest later.

Speaking of a millionaire who had just died in Rājagaha, leaving no children to inherit, so that King Pasenadi confiscated his property, the Buddha said that many lives earlier he had often offered food to a paccekabuddha who came begging past his house. As a result, for seven lives in a row he was always rich and prosperous. Only because he had once killed the only son of his own older brother did he incur the karmic result of never having a child to inherit his property, after he had finished paying the result of killing that child with an extremely painful punishment.

At a lower level, the one helped is an ordinary person who also has the sorrows, loves, angers and hatreds of daily life like everyone else. With such an object, the karmic result for the giver is moderate good fortune, not especially remarkable. Even so, if we accumulate a great deal of such good karma, we also obtain great merit.

Then, with a deep understanding of cause and effect, we may choose whom to help: choosing people of fine morality to make offerings to, hoping for a great karmic result later, and paying no heed to the ordinary people who throng this dusty world. In that case, it is clear that our act of helping does not come from a heart that loves others. We are only exploiting the law of karma to seek benefit for ourselves later. With such an idea we have only merit (because we have benefited others) but no virtue (because it comes from a selfish mind). Merit without virtue is like a house without a firm foundation: collapse is unavoidable. Later, although we are rich and live in comfort, our minds will still be full of narrow, selfish schemes. That very selfish tendency will push us to create unwholesome karma and then bring suffering on ourselves later.

So let us equip our minds with a vast love for everyone and every being, let us help them through times of hardship, let us do everything for them and not for the sake of our own karmic result in the future.

In another aspect, we must be careful when helping the wicked, because that help may give them more means to harm others. And in that case our help to them will create a bad karmic result for us later, as if we had assisted them in creating evil karma.

Saying this does not mean we should abandon the wicked and give them no help. Compassion does not allow us to limit our help to anyone. It is only that, with the wicked, we both help them through their difficulties and skilfully lead them back to morality. People will listen only after they have received a kindness. Bodhisattvas who enter birth and death to teach and deliver beings must also follow this rule, that is, they must first create a debt of kindness among people and only then use words to bring them back to morality. We are not yet enlightened Bodhisattvas, but we can imitate the Bodhisattva practice by giving alms to teach the wicked.

Helping the wicked demands of us patience, skill and generosity. We must still help them without giving them the opportunity to do evil, and only try to make them transform their minds and become good people for society.

According to the situation of helping, we will receive a corresponding karmic result. For example, a person who often uses their strength to work and lighten others' burdens receives in return abundant strength. And with this strength they reach success.

For example, a person who often helps in building schools and helps others' education receives in return excellent studies, high qualifications and a spacious, handsome home.

For example, a person who often takes care of public lighting receives in return keen eyesight.

A person who often takes care of relief for victims of natural disasters, fires, wars and so on receives in return a peaceful life; if some mishap occurs, someone at once helps.

A person who often defends the isolated, the weak and the wronged receives in return great influence (so that no one dares to bully them).

Some people, wealthy and flourishing, suddenly become poor and destitute through an upheaval in business or an accident. This karmic result stems from the fact that in a previous life they often did good, but in one fit of anger threw it all away and destroyed everything.

Mrs Thái was a very active member of a charitable association. She contributed a great deal of both property and effort to its charitable work over a long period. Then, in a quarrel with friends over rank within the association, she left in resentment and obstructed the association's continuing activity.

Or take a Buddhist layman who often looked after the volunteer work of the village temple, with its rituals and social charity activities. After once having his pride wounded, he ended his service. The karmic result of such cases is that in later lives, success suddenly collapses or comes to a halt.

So with good deeds, we must resolve to persevere for the long term. Let us not destroy our own good karma over petty matters. We must keep accumulating, bit by bit, our merit, helping others tirelessly whenever we have the opportunity.

There is a person who had a hard and toilsome youth and only in maturity attained good fortune and success. There are two causes of that karmic result.

One is that in the previous life, when young, they were only concerned with play and study and made no meritorious karma. Only when they grew older and became aware did they begin to do charitable work. In the next life, the corresponding times are: an ordinary youth, and only in maturity does success begin.

The other is that in the previous life they paid little attention to helping the young, caring only for older people. The karmic result is that when young they are less fortunate, and only when older do they reap much good.

Many people complain that they are often betrayed by those who received their kindness. They lose faith in the law of karma, seeing that they gained nothing good from their acts of helping others. Why is their kindness repaid with ingratitude and treachery?

There are many causes for that phenomenon. It may be that the fault is not with the one who received the kindness. They too are grateful and wish for a chance to repay. But they find it hard to come near the benefactor, because the benefactor always recounts his good deeds and is conceited. The recipient feels insulted and uncomfortable approaching such a benefactor. Sometimes they regret having accepted a kindness from such a proud, petty person.

It may also be that the fault lies with the recipient, because this person is too selfish, caring only for themselves, thinking only of their own gains and losses and forgetting the kindness of others. If we meet this kind of person, we should simply laugh it off and let it go, for a noble person never "does a kindness in order to be repaid", does he, my friend?

For the law of karma, it is not required that the good karmic result be repaid by the one who received the kindness. If, on receiving the kindness, that person conceived the thought of repaying it, then later (perhaps over many lives) they themselves will repay it fully. In life we occasionally meet a few people who are especially good to us and help us in every way. They may have received kindness from us in a previous life and conceived the intention to repay it.

As for the ungrateful, who have no wish to repay, the good karmic result will come from countless other circumstances. Either we win the lottery, or our business meets the right moment and profits manifold, or we are helped by good people (not those who received our kindness).

We will see that karma acts within the very consciousness of each person.

A robber, his mind steeped in malice, always ready to harm others, nevertheless, when he watches the street for someone to rob, his malice only rises when he sees someone who has created evil karma, and he seems to pass over people with no evil karma in the past.

Likewise, a kind-hearted benefactor is always ready to help everyone, but when he meets someone who has sown too much karma of stinginess, his good mind seems to drift and sink, not rising, so that he forgets to help that person. And that mind only rises strongly when he meets people who have sown good karma in the past.

So a person who has sown too much evil karma, wherever they go, only awakens the malice of those around them, so that they are always on the verge of wishing to harm, drive away and curse that person. Conversely, a person who has sown much good karma, wherever they go, stirs up the goodness of everyone's heart, so that everyone treats them kindly.