Comments on: Econo-Buddha Part II: The Diamond Heart of Shakyamuni

By: AMO

AMO — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:19:45 +0000

A friend once told me, giving is not like banking, deposits = withdrawals. Giving is like white water rafting, sometimes you're on the side of the boat where you're supposed to paddle, and sometimes you're on the side of the boat where you're supposed to hold on for dear life. Paddle when you can. When you can't, hold on tight and trust in the paddlers. Work hard to paddle as often as you're able, not when it's your turn, not when you think someone's watching, not when you're sure you'll get recognition or you owe someone, but just because you can. Celebrate your ability to paddle now, you never know how long it's going to last, or how you're going to miss it when it's gone…

By: Banned for Occult and Satanism | elephant journal

Banned for Occult and Satanism | elephant journal — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:18:29 +0000

[...] children which, honestly, I don’t foresee there being much of a challenge to the Diamond Sutra or the Bhagavad Gita since it’s rare for them to be placed in the children’s section of [...]

By: Midori Harada

Midori Harada — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:11:56 +0000

I always give whatever I have to whomever asks. I have given pennies and I have given $20 if I felt I could. I truly feel if we are asked we should do what we can, we have no idea what can come to pass for a person to have to ask for money. I do not know if they need food or what the needs might be. True it may be drugs or drink. It is not my business. I am here to do the next thing that comes to me, and if it is a beggar than it is my duty to help. If given with love all is well. We live in perfect order and harmony so that each soul who is present is a reflection of perfect order.

By: Brightheart

Brightheart — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:48:29 +0000

One sunny day when I was visiting Issan Dorsey at Hartford Street in San Francisco in the middle of the AIDS crisis, probably mid-eighties. He invited me go to lunch with him, and as I had hitchhiked down I was grateful for the chance to eat and spend time with him. As we walked up to Castro street we passed clusters of people sitting on doorsteps, many haggard, worn, dirty, or obviously ill. There was a constant solicitation of "Spare change?" and occasionally Issan would reach inside his robes, pull out a couple of quarters and hand them over to an open hand. I said something typical about them spending the money on drugs. He said "What if the 50 cents I gave him means that he'll now have the $3.79 he needs for a bottle of liquor. With that bottle he could go to someones house and maybe get to stay the night inside drinking rather than on the street? What if that little bit of change means he now has enough to get the drug his body is demanding? When I asked how he decided who to give change to he said the one's that look me in the eye and ask. I take 1/2 the money they give me as spending money (as abbot of the temple) and get quarters. I put them in a bag in my robes and give them away until I've run out of the change I can spare. Then I can truthfully look them in the eye and say "No, I'm sorry." Besides people I love live on the street and I can't locate them but I can help here. Besides, how and where else can you meet someones inmost need for 50 cents?