Charity in Buddhism

In America, religion is often associated with types of charity. So it is interesting how Buddhism does not seem to participate in similar types of organized charity. Or do they? One reason why people might not hear about Buddhist charity as much is because Buddhist do not seek publicity for their charity. In fact, giving, or generosity, is one of the Six Perfections (paramitas) of Buddhism. However, for the act of giving to be “perfect” one must do it selflessly and without reward or praise. They say that even doing charity as a way to feel good about one’s self is doing it with the wrong intentions and is therefore impure.

I feel that this is a lesson that everyone should hold with them. With all of the different types of social media, I so often see people posting statuses about acts of charity they did or of others. It is true that this could be a good way of spreading awareness and encouraging others to do it. However, charity should not be done in order to make you look like a martyr, it should be done out of love and because you have a desire to fulfill a need of another individual.