Daily Meditation: Monday, June 20, 2022

Helping human beings - enlightening them so they can fend for themselves

06/20/2022

There are two ways to help human beings: by giving them clothes, food, medicines and housing, or by teaching them to fend for themselves. The first method is quick and sometimes even spectacular, for within a few minutes a person’s material situation can be transformed. But the improvement is only temporary, as the cupboards will soon be bare, the clothes will soon wear out and help will be needed all over again. It is far more useful to enlighten people, but of course this is more difficult and it takes much longer. If we want to help human beings really effectively, we should follow nature’s example. For nine months, the mother carries the child in her womb, teaching it to eat, drink and breathe. Then she says, ‘Now that’s enough. Out you come!’ The child cries a little at first then it decides to try and cope on its own, and soon manages to do so. This is how human beings should be educated. Rather than rebuilding their homes and giving them food, would it not be better to teach them never to go to war again?