There is a special emphasis on generosity in Sikh religion. According to a study conducted in 1914 by the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Sikhs are on the top at the generosity table followed by the Jews. The Christians were placed third. The Sikh religion’s three major teachings are : “Kirat karo, Naam Japo and Wand Chhako” ( Work hard to earn, Meditate on God and eat after sharing with the needy and the poor).
By Zile Singh, IFS
Ambassador(Retd.)
“Generosity is giving more than you can. Pride is taking less than you need.” – Kahlil Gibran
Generosity is an action and a quality like – compassion, courtesy, kindness and love. All these qualities are fruitful and virtuous. When we show generosity, we give money, time and knowledge to whosoever needs it in good or bad times. Probably we all wish to be generous in our own way.
To acquire generosity and all the above mentioned qualities, we have to be in touch with our inherent nature. To explore our inherent nature we need true understanding through various means like meditation, humanitarian thinking and religious precepts. In spiritual terms, charity and generosity are one of the awakened actions.
Recognizing compassionately the suffering of others leads us to be generous and be of assistance to them. Generosity is an invisible highway of human connectivity because most of the time we do not know who we are helping. Charity and generosity, in some way, are synonymous. Though both involve helping others; charity is more a humanitarian act whereas generosity has spiritual roots.
Generosity can be performed by body, mind and heart and the charity is done by giving money. Thus charity starts with the cheque book and generosity starts with the heart. Both are important and complementary to each other. American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie said, “ No man can become rich without enriching others.”
Many successful businessmen think about sharing and giving back to their community at some point in their lives and engage in philanthropy. Some say it is out of generosity and others believe that it is for tax reasons or to nourish one’s ego. One way or the other, the money spent for charitable and generous purposes is needed and has some type of impact on someone’s life. An act of generosity, no matter how big or small, can make an unbelievable difference in someone’s life.
History is replete with such examples when the life of the recipient of a small and timely help by way of monetary, physical and mental help had changed beyond imagination. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity and dedicated her life to serve the poor and abandoned children in India.
“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your heart to love them. So spread your love everywhere you go.”
Mother Teresa ( now Saint Teresa ) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her charitable work for the poor, diseased and the distressed. Some of the most renowned philanthropists of the day are: Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook founder; Warren Buffet – Berkshire Hathaway ; Bill and Melinda Gates – Microsoft; Jan Koum – former Whatsapp and Nick Goodman – Gopro.
There is a special emphasis on generosity in Sikh religion. According to a study conducted in 1914 by the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Sikhs are on the top at the generosity table followed by the Jews. The Christians were placed third. The Sikh religion’s three major teachings are : “Kirat karo, Naam Japo and Wand Chhako” ( Work hard to earn, Meditate on God and eat after sharing with the needy and the poor).
The Hindu scriptures, Vedas, Purans, Mahabharat and Geeta are full of texts that call for charity and generosity. The Rig Veda says, “One should strongly resent miserliness and indulge in charity because one can acquire the never-ending wealth of immortality by doing so.”
Islam has a complete system of charity and philanthropic activities. Zakat on various occasions is a ritual of extending a helping hand to the poor and the needy. According to the Quran “The charity you give, will be your shade on the Day of Judgment”.
In Buddhism, giving is an expression of the natural qualities of kindness and compassion. Buddhism believes in interdependence of all beings including the nature. The Canadian ethos has a special place for generosity and charity. Charitable institutions are working at all levels.
The South-Asian community, in particular, have proved beyond doubt that they belong to such an ancestral culture where no one should shun to help and protect the needy by way of tan, man and dhan ( body, heart and money). To help the victims of natural calamities in Canada and even beyond borders the community has done fund-raising as and when called for. In this regard, the role of Radio Red-FM in organizing Radiothones to raise charity on occasions of need has proved a success story. The last one was for the help of the victims of the B.C. Forest Fires.
Also, recently the community led by J. Minhas, Mohan Gill and others honoured Professor S.P. Oberoi at Gurudwara Dukh Nivaran Saheb, Surrey for his generous work to save hundreds of lives from death row by offering blood-money to the UAE government. Oberoi’s ‘Sarbat Da Bhalla Charitable Trust’ is doing yeoman service in the fields of health and education in Punjab.
On July 29, on the occasion of the launch of Sardar Gian Singh Kotli’s book of poems, ‘ Dhan Likhari Nanka’, prominent writers shed lights on his multi-faceted personality as a teacher, poet, interpreter of Sikh religion, inter-faith believer, hockey player and a trekker. I personally sum up his achievements as “ Awakened Actions”.
I was pleased to know that the place called ‘Punjab Bhawan’ in a foreign land, where the event was organized, was dedicated to the community last year by the Sukhi Bath family for literary activities’ advancement. Bath’s new charitable and generous project, in pipeline, is a four-storied building that will house a Library and a Research Centre for Punjabi literature.
There are many instances of charitable work done by the community as a group as well as at individual level. All the people and the organizations involved in these acts of Charity and Generosity deserve our salute!
Zile Singh is a former Ambassador(Retd.) of India and a Vipassana Meditator. He can be reached at [email protected] .
