Generosity
"It's different from conventional philanthropy, which we usually think of as involving someone who has a lot of money and doesn't know what to do with it. We're saying, 'This is part of why I live and work. My life is partly based on this vision and understanding, and I support it.' From a buddhist point of view, it's a journey and a path."
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche (to the Shambhala Trust)
Dechen Choling, St. Yrieix-sous-Aixe, France
May 14, 2000
"We have to shift our attitude so that giving is a joy, something we want to do. When we find something we want to do, we always find ways of paying for it, we always find the money."
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche (to the Circle of Kalapa donors)
Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada
June 7, 2000
Money
"Money is basically a very simple thing. But our attitude toward it is overloaded, full of preconceived ideas that stem from the development of a self-aggrandizing ego and its manipulative processes. The mere act of handling money - just pieces of paper - is viewed as a very serious game.
"The energy money takes on makes a tremendous difference in the process of communication and relationship. If a friend suddenly refuses to pay his check at a restaurant, a feeling of resentment or separation automatically arises in relation to him. If one buys a friend a cup of tea - which is just a cup, hot water, and tea, - somehow a factor of meaningfulness gets added.
"It seems to me that it is worthwhile to work with the negative aspects of money in order to gain some understanding about ourselves. We must try to discover how to view this embarrassing and potent commodity as a part of ourselves that we cannot ignore.
"When we relate to money properly, it is no longer a mere token of exchange or of our abstract energy; it is also a discipline. Then we can deal with it in a practical, earthy way as a master deals with his tools."
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
From "Green Energy," in The Heart of the Buddha, pp. 208-209.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana Mukpo and used by permission.
"As far as business ethics go, it's a question of friendship. When we have a business deal with somebody, we should not think in terms of cutting his throat, but we should have good faith in that particular person and a sense of tenderness toward him. Whether we are buying land from that person or just a tee shirt, there should be tenderness and faith. That goes a long way. On the whole, we should regard money as mother's milk: it nourishes us and it nourishes others. That should be our attitude to money. It's not just a bank coupon that we have in our wallet. Each dollar contains a lot of the past; many people worked for that particular one dollar, one cent. They worked so hard, with their sweat and tears. So we should respect it, like mother's milk. But at the same time, mother's milk can be given away to others, and we can produce more mother's milk. So we shouldn't hang onto it too tightly."
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
From "Regarding Money as Mother's Milk," an address at a business conference, June 19, 1981. Unpublished transcript.
"Generally we talk about money when things are really bad. If we can talk about it in the community in a way that’s very open, then when people relate to it in their lives, it’s more open."
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Richness
When the Buddha attained enlightenment, he went around the cities and collected small pieces of cloth that were thrown away by other people. Apparently, he was a good seamstress, so he sewed all those little squares of cloth together, and he made a monastic garment out of them. And it came out beautifully, wonderfully. People remarked, "Look! Who is that person, that well-dressed, well-clad person?" That's where the tradition of sewing monastic robes out of small pieces of cloth came from. Buddha demonstrated that kind of richness, power, and strength. It was not a question of having expensive cloth sewn together, but it was the way the robe was worn, the way it looked. So richness is not purely a result of dollars and cents, or as they used to say in England, LSD, pounds, shillings, and pence. When a person is worthy of wealth, he has it; he embodies it.
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
From "Regarding Money as Mother's Milk," an address at a business conference, June 19, 1981. Unpublished transcript.
|
