Daily Meditation: Saturday, August 3, 2002

How should we help the needy? You can either help a needy …

08/03/2002

How should we help the needy? You can either help a needy person by giving them clothes, food, medicines, shelter, or else by teaching them to manage for themselves, become self-sufficient. The first method is quick and can even be spectacular, because within just a few minutes someone's material situation can be completely changed. But this kind of help is momentary, because the food cupboard will empty, the clothes will wear out, and you will have to start again. Enlightening people is far more effective, although of course it is far more difficult and takes far longer. To help human beings in a truly effective way we must follow nature's example. A mother carries her child in her womb for nine months. She eats, she drinks and she breathes for her child. Then she says: 'Right, now it's time for you to stop relying on me. Go on, out you go.' And to start with the child cries a little, but then it decides to get on with things, and very soon it manages very well. This is how human beings should be educated. They should first be given what they need to be able to continue alone.