As it is said, “religion is mother of charity”, charity is an essential imperative in Buddhism and, meanwhile, an inner value orientation to the believers. The very aim for the Buddha to set up Buddhism was to benefit all lives, to assist the lives to be delivered from sufferings. To all Buddhists, the purpose of Dharma preaching and, indeed, of every deed of practice is to bring goodness to all living beings. Compassion has been the core of Buddhist doctrines, and it is for this reason that Buddhism advocates the principle of “universal compassion”, “to relieve the pain of all, and to enhance the joy for all”. With its deep understanding of charity and great performance in current days, Chinese Buddhism has gained recognition from both the state and the society. It is playing a positive role in the advocation of universal humanistic values.

A.The Buddhist notion of charity

1. Notion of charity based on the view of dependent origination

With regard to the definition of dependent origination, we can refer to the words in Agama, “what this is, that is; this arising, that arises", “when this is not, that is not; this ceasing, that ceases”. This doctrine acts as a profound revelation of the law of creation, cessation and existence of all phenomena and all things. On the platform of dependent origination, “this” and “that”, “creation” and “cessation” is ultimately equal rather than opposed. Personal preference derives from private evaluation. Such a view gives inspiration to the very motivation of charity. In a world stuffed with truth and falsehood, the good which Buddhism seeks is not only a way of self cultivation, but also a path to make the others change. If someone wishes, for example, to accept the Uppasaka Commandment, he is obliged to make offerings to six parties which include parents, tutors, the family, servants, the sick, and the poor, so as to consolidate the base of the mind for Buddhahood. The Buddhist notion of charity is, therefore, established firstly on the concept of equality, the only factor that arouses true sympathy. Hence Vimalakīrti takes the sickness of the folk for the pain of the Bodhisattva.

2. Notion of charity based on the view of wisdom

A profound notion shall be expressed in an expedient manner, i.e., shall be practiced via wisdom. The principle of dependent origination, which reveals the state of constant change of all phenomena in relation to relevant conditions, reminds us that we shall examine and make use of the relative factors. We are familiar with these quotes: “to attract into the Bodhi path via the aid of desire”, “Buddhahood can only be witnessed through expediency.” While the greatest deed of charity is to save life, to Buddhism the supreme charity is to help people to achieve wisdom and, at the end, freedom from suffering. In the way myriad of light is ignited by one single first light, the Buddha, who was resolved to renounce worldly life and be engaged with the task of dharma preaching, is the first person of charity in Buddhism. Wisdom does count in the course of charity as only those who are wise can perform their mission better.

3. Notion of charity based on introspection

Either the ground of equality or expedience of practice is meant to serve the completeness of charity. The uniqueness of Buddhist charity lies in that the subjective are the Buddhist believers who, while holding their faith firm, regard charity as a means of dharma advocation. Charity is a medium that links Buddhism with the society, a channel through which Buddhism pays its return to the public. It is important, therefore, for Buddhism to ensure the well-being of itself while offering help to the other, because one gives more and better only when he himself is healthy and strong. How is it that one can help when he is in need of help? “To be offered” is after all not a state incentive to the proper growth of charity. The above three aspects have been proper guidelines for Buddhist charities in history and modern days alike, constituting an important content in the charities of religions in China.

B. Contemporary Buddhist charity practice

1. Basic outlook

There are more than 70 Buddhist charity organizations and bodies that have formally registered in Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) of China from 1994 to 2012. With the publishing of Comments on Encouraging the Circle of Religion to be Engaged in Public Welfare and Charities, which was issued jointly by the Bureau of Religions of the State and other six departments, the circle of religions in China has witnessed a spring time of charity. According to rough statistics, from 2007 to the end of 2012, Chinese Buddhism across the country has launched into charity a value of 1.86 billion yuan, covering areas of disaster relief, education assistance, medical care, care for the aged and disabled, life protection, environmental protection, etc. Novel ideas, systematic and professional operation schemes of modern charity have been adopted, and the circle has accumulated rich experience of welfare and charities.

2. Six categories of charity in contemporary Buddhism

a. Charity for disaster relief. The circle of Chinese Buddhism has provided timely relief and aftermath assistance in the cases of natural disasters, such as earthquake, typhoon, flood, fire and so on. Especially when confronting the great accidents like the flood of 1998, the SARS of 2003, the quake of 2008, the circle made great efforts in calling as well as actual organizing donations across the country, in the hope of reducing the destructive effect to the minimal level. These charity efforts have greatly relieved the pressure of the state and society.

b. Charity for education assistance. The Buddhist circle is especially enthusiastic in education assistance. Examples include the Ciyun Center of Education Charities by the Honghua Temple in Dongfang Mt., Huangshi, Hubei Province; the Editorial Committee for Buddhist Projects of Hope in Chongqing city; the Buddhist Special Foundation of Charities in Shanghai. These projects and the like have contributed huge amount of property and financial resources into the realm of education assistance . 

c. Charity for poverty support. The charity resource in this field is oriented to help the disadvantageous groups, public facilities, community services and poor persons in mountainous areas. Examples of the projects in this field are: the Project of Mothers by Chongqing Buddhist Association; the Project of Due by the Baoen Temple of Lanzhou; the Family Support Project by Guangdong Buddhist Association. Such projects have won positive appraisals from both the beneficiaries and the society.

d. Charity for medical care. Inspired by the Buddhist compassion of “mercy for the suffering of all, mercy for the dying”, the circle of Chinese Buddhism makes its contribution through two ways, namely, medicine donation on one hand, and building charity medical organizations on the other. Guangdong Buddhist Association, for example, has already set up 11 charity clinics of Chinese tradition medicine. The Family of Buddhist Light in Sipsongpanna, Yunnan, is particularly engaged with anti-aids activities, which is an important supplement to the governmental plan. Moreover, some of the charity clinics are providing community level services. 

e. Charity for care of the aged. The sixth national population census shows that the population above the age of 60 counts for 13.26 % of the total, and the ratio is increasing by 3% each year. The current services for the aged and nursing facilities are lacking far behind the need. To share the burden of the state and society, eligible temples and Buddhist organizations are building nursing homes in every part of the country. The province of Jiangsu alone has more than 20 of such homes for the aged. The special Buddhist nursing atmosphere and unique hospice care have received increasingly high appraisal.

f. Charity for environmental protection. The natural environment on which mankind lives hitherto has suffered the most severe damages. Inspired by the doctrine “main reward not separated from affiliated reward“, “affiliated reward changes after the main”, the Buddhist circle has been engaged enthusiastically with the work of environmental protection. Guangdong Buddhist Association, for instance, organizes each year a life-free-setting activity on June 6th ( designated as the date of life-free-setting) together with Guangdong Ocean and Fishery Bureau. The Dafo Temple in Guangzhou is promoting a movement of garbage classification. Many of the Buddhist organizations are making efforts in advocating to the public the significance of lives protection, thrifty life styles, vegetarian food, low-carbon life style, and recycling. Furthermore, we are especially concerned with the issue of mind-cleaning. Psychology clinics have been set up. Other activities relevant to this realm that we have organized include “Dialogue under the Bodhi-tree”, lectures on Buddhism, Buddhism summer camp, Buddhist hospice, etc. All of this activities, through mind cleaning and nourishing, are aimed at improving the relation between man and nature, relation between man and the society, and relation among individuals.

C. Vision of Buddhist Charity

In spite of all the achievements of Buddhist charity, admittedly problems still exist. These notably include ineffective integration of resources, insufficient intercommunication and cooperation, uneven development among organizations, insufficient platform for charities, lack of renovation and talents, unavailability of legislation. All these have led to the obstruction of the Buddhist circle to exert more forces in charity. Though there is still a long way for Buddhist charity to go, and there are much to be improved, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of my opinions. 

First, it is important to preach the ideas of Buddhist charity and to integrate the notions of humanistic Buddhism into Buddhist charity. Regular exchange on the charity affairs, either nation-wide or world-wide, will help to popularize the essence of Buddhist charity.

Second, a professional team shall be established. Such a team shall be committed to form a system of plural voluntary services and, with extensive utilization of IT, to make Buddhist charity the hard core of the field in China. 

Third, the characteristics of Buddhist charity should be exemplified. Compassion shall be winged by wisdom, and material need shall be balanced by spiritual pursuit. We shall regard the exaltation of humanity and improvement of general human quality as the maximum interests, the spread of love and expedient help as the eternal theme of Buddhist charity. At the same time, we need to seek support from both the state and the society in this field in order to encourage and regulate the charity activities of the Buddhist circle.

Finally, the forces of Buddhist charity shall be united to form an encouraging atmosphere for further development, so that the public will be benefited and the social value of Buddhism be manifested.

Conclusion

Chinese Buddhism has a practical, unique and indepth understanding of charity. It not only conforms to the spirit of the Buddha’s teaching, but also meets contemporary conditions. By adhering to the charity principles of dependent origination, wisdom and retrospection, Chinese Buddhism has attained great achievements in the areas of disaster relief, poverty support, education assistance, medical care, care for the aged, and environmental protection. With the change of time, the charity of Chinese Buddhism will find a much broader space of development in the future. But the mission can only be fulfilled with our further efforts in preparing a complete mechanism, in upbringing more personnel, in upgrading the platform, and in exploiting new channels. We believe Buddhist charity will see a better future so long as we stick to the Mahayana spirit of serving society, so long as all sectors of the community contribute to this course jointly.