Thank you for taking time to write this letter. My mind has gone through many paradigm shifts facing reality. Basic problem for all of us is survival. We as human beings belong to common humanity and we all owe each other. We all have the instinct to help others. But we all do not have the resources to help others. Even when we have resources, we tend to help the biological family people who are in need. That is our priority and that is the reality. Spiritual family is only a concept we try to have but in reality, it is not there. The Christian Church is a social group in which the members know each other and help each other. It is the only support system Christians have. Hindu bhaktas of Jesus do not belong to any group or fellowship. I did not know about the sisters you wrote about and their needs until you wrote about them. You might have known them for a long time or short time. Therefore, you took interest to help them through people you have known. But if there is a fellowship of such people that would have been helpful. This is the first thing the Apostles did not have a big organization. I spent 44 years in the USA and I have seen how charitable services are done in a most effective way. Here we spent 70000 rupees to remodel a hut to a poor widow who worked 30 years doing cooli work on daily wages. Personally, I could not have done it. Personally, I could not do much but an organization can do much.
PR
5-12-2021
Already I said that there are advantages and disadvantages in organization. I agree that there is a place for Organizations, particularly when there comes any need to meet the needs of people on a large scale where co-ordination and co-operations from various people and agencies are involved. Without proper organized effort with proper administration lots of resources, material and time will be wasted and we cannot reach people in need in time. However, when there comes any need for an individual or family, first we should reach them through various individuals who can step in to help them. This is one such case. Take for example when I received the news about the need of these sisters, immediately I sent money then I contacted a few like-minded people requesting them to help. Few quickly responded and sent money. Even one bhakta promised to send some more next month and asked whether they need any monthly support. This shows immediate response and long-term planning with proper co-operation. Then I wrote to that bhakta that I will contact my friend about it. Because the sisters have their other siblings, one younger sister who became ‘Christian’ and her children also follow the lord [but not the husband] and two more younger brothers who are a bit alienated from the sisters because of their bhakti in the Lord. As they have one immediately family, we have to see whether they will step in such an emergency as their dharma [responsibility] demands it. Particularly their younger sister and her children who follow the Lord have more responsibility in spite of their limitation to help much.
But if we try to help through some Trust then we have to see whether the constitution of the Trust allows it? Are there enough funds for it etc.? Then the request should be submitted through proper format and then the members or at least the in charge should approve and the treasure should sanction etc. In an emergency there is no time for such formalities.
Regarding your case study of helping a poor cooli to help to fix her cottage with 70,000/- through organization I really appreciate such kind help to such deserving people. But my question is how many more such poor people were helped in your area through the same organization? At the same time I am happy that at least one deserving person was helped. One time when the topic of giving such help to the poor and need by some Along Siders [a new term they coined for non-Indian missionaries] I said, ‘there are millions and millions of poor people in our country. And if you can help them all do that. Then we can make your country become pauper soon. Because I clearly pointed out to them that most of the time the ‘Christian Charity’ remains ‘EITHER TO CONVERT OR TO THE CONVERT’ which many Hindus know well. Already I wrote one article about it in my blog. The one thing that I learnt about true charity is the famous quotation: ‘Throwing a bone to the dog is not charity; but sharing in the same bone when you are as hungry as the dog’. Though we might label our philanthropic work as ‘Charity’ [Charity Fund; Charity work etc.], before this ideal of ‘sharing…when we as hungry as others’ what we do is nothing but part of our ‘Manushya dharma’ of taking care of fellow human beings and not charity in real sense.
Of course, people of other faiths also have their religious motivation to do such charity as we found in Hinduism and Islam. In Hinduism it is either as part of dharma or to earn punya [merit] or at least get rid of your [past bad] karmas. However, whatever might be our motive, my personal conviction about charity is this: ‘know your limitation first, you should not allow your family to suffer because of your generosity as charity begins at home, don’t commit more than what you can do. Otherwise, the person whom you want to help will suffer more when you cannot sustain your help for a long time.’ Only in such a scenario proper Organization through administration can take care of the long-time need of an individual or family or larger group.
But your response provoked some interest in me to know how our Indian communities and societies responded in the past to meet the needs of several individuals and families in need and crisis. Take for example ‘orphanage’ and ‘old age homes’ which are growing like mushrooms in every corner of our land. Interestingly, in spite of my various readings about the past history of our civilization, I hardly ever come across any reference about such ‘institution’ existing separately in societies to take care of the needs of orphans and old people. In generally till the recent past, when a woman become widow either she continued to live with her husband’s family having her right in the property [dharma sastras elaborately talks about it] or in modern history most of them went back to their natal family to stay with her parents or brothers who took care of them till the end. That is why ‘maternal uncle’ [called Mama] is regarded more important for a child than the father. So, the concept of any child becoming an orphan never arose and any need for a separate institution to take care of them. I am interested to know how and when such institutions developed in the west which the missionaries brought with them to India. Of course, we have to move along with time as this became the new normality in India also.
As a digression, as converts are alienated from their birth family and community through the conversion drive of the missionaries, where they cannot manage to create a compound Christianity, naturally when the children of the converts become orphan the missionaries used the institution of orphanage and old age home to take care of them.
In principle I prefer decentralization and localization of the service to the people rather than creating an organization to meet the needs of individuals and families. One time when a local politician approached me with the suggestion to collect fund from my shishyas so that we can create one Trust to help the needy people in our area [Mathigiri]. In response I told him that needy people are everywhere. And in general, I encourage my [so-called@] shishyas to help them locally. Above all as a sannyasi I don’t want to be involved in such activities which are not the responsibility of a sannyasi. Taking care of fellow human beings is the dharma of family people and not that of sannyasi. That is why when the village head [here at Maruppalli] approached me long back whether I can take care of a few orphans from the village or organize some help for them through our ashram, in response I asked him, ‘how many families are in his village’. When he gave the approximate numbers, I asked, ‘are they not even one or two families who can take care of those orphans as part of their family and bring them up’? He has no answer for this. Unfortunately, now families don’t want to take their responsibility which is part of their obligation but expect sannyasis and ashrams to do that. They prefer to give donations to that purpose but not involve in such service. Those who have no child adapts one but I rarely come across any family adopting another orphan as part of the family to grow along with their own children. Though few ashrams and sannyasis managed to do that seva successfully most of the time it ended up in scandal and abuse of money and power finally the sannyasis [like Asha Ram babu] ended up in jail.
Regarding our ashram [you also asked what our ashram does about such a scenario]; first of all, officially this is not an ashram. I deliberately named it ‘Gurukulam’ as the abode of a teacher. So, any family people also can come take responsibility of this place as the residing acharya. There is no provision to use Trust money for charity purposes. So, most of the time the Trust members and others do that work individually. However, when any need comes, we send the help through our Trust, particularly to send money to the government to meet the needs of natural calamity.
When anyone asks about the program of this ashram, my only response is: We don’t have any particular program for this place. You come with your program and if it is acceptable then we will accommodate you, [but no illegal or immoral program is allowed here. ]—for reading, writing, spending quiet time etc. You all face various kinds of pollution in society [noise pollution, air pollution etc.]. Though we have the amenity to create mental pollution here [as we have a good library to read and place to contemplate and think], still you come here to overhaul your body, soul, and mind. You can come here to take a rest but not to spend time as a lazy person. For your stay you can contribute whatever way you can. But personally, the only program or activity that I keep here and promote is: SILENCE. Try to remain silent as much as possible to overhaul your total personality.
Regarding the so-called ‘spiritual family’ I have closely observed that even in the monastic communities they never lived as a family but just as a monastic ‘community’ bound by rules and regulation. Interestingly I have seen that even the members of such communities regularly visited their home taking a break and spent some time with them. Even some of these monastic communities have provision of sanctioning separate holidays once in a year or two and even paying the travel and other expenses to visit their home. I know that among the Catholic Fathers and Nuns they have regular breaks to visit to spend time with their family members. But I don’t know about this practice in the West or western monasteries and Catholic churches there.
Finally, you said that, ‘Basic problem for all of us is survival.’ I would rather say that our basic ‘INSTICT’ is survival. For me this is part of ‘salvation’ [Mukti]. If I understood Mukti Veda correctly, even this very survival is one kind of Mukti. Though we articulate it in different theological terms still it is Mukti or part of Mukti.
Sorry for this long response for your short but thought-provoking views. Anyhow I took this as an opportunity to spell out some of my views on this matter further. Welcome your comments. Take care. God bless you.
Db
6-12-2021
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