The word "charity" comes from the word "kindness" in Buddhist scriptures, which means that a person can only do good things if he has a kind heart. Charity is deeply rooted in China, and "supporting the elderly and caring for the young" is a fine tradition of the Chinese nation. Civil relief has a long history in China. In the case of natural disasters and wars, Buddhist temples have become the best shelters for refugees and naturally become the most influential charities.
Speaking of charity, the charity fund-raising activities initiated by the Buddhist community after the Indian Ocean tsunami will never be forgotten. At 6: 00 pm on June 5438+/KOLOC-0/October/KOLOC-0/Sunday, 2005, thousands of monks on both sides of the Taiwan Strait/KOLOC-0/00 donated millions of yuan to help the poor and eliminate disasters. Beijing Lingguang Temple held a blessing ceremony. During the disaster relief ceremony, 9.36 million yuan was raised on the spot. For example, the Buddhist Association of China donated 500,000 yuan, the staff of the State Administration for Religious Affairs donated 50,000 yuan, the Foguang Mountain in Taiwan Province Province donated 654.38+million yuan, the Zhongtai Temple in Taiwan Province Province donated 200,000 yuan, the Xiangfu Temple in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province donated 500,000 yuan, and the Emei Mountain Buddhist Association donated 500,000 yuan. In particular, Yi Chengzhang donated 50,000 yuan from the old site and 50,000 yuan from the Li Jinyuan layman. This donation activity then broke through 654.38+038.
When it comes to Elder Yicheng's personal charity, the elder doesn't want to talk more. However, according to Master Zhao Wen, the secretary of the elder, when elder Yicheng was in Jiangxi, he made contributions to the provincial CPPCC, offered condolences to the nursing home, donated food to the disaster-stricken areas, and initiated the donation of three Hope primary schools in Yongxiu. Especially every time I go back to Jiangxi, I have to go to the nursing home and buy them some living materials. By the way, do you have any difficulties? I also urged my disciples to take good care of them before returning to Beijing. Yi Changlao is very concerned about the Buddhist education in China. In order to solve the problem of mixed textbooks, he also donated 500,000 yuan to support China Buddhist College in compiling textbooks.
When asked about the views of the Chinese Buddhist Association on the development of charity, Yi Changlao mentioned that as early as 1993, Park Lao advocated the idea of "Buddhism on earth" in the article Thirty Years of the Chinese Buddhist Association. Therefore, at the Seventh Buddhist Congress of the Buddhist Association of China in late September, 2002, Master Yicheng called on the Buddhist community to actively practice the concept of "human Buddhism", taking education and training talents, diligent study and dedication to society as the important contents of practicing the concept of "human Buddhism", and clearly wrote the concept of advocating "human Buddhism" into the general rules in the newly revised articles of association of the Buddhist Association. The idea of "Buddhism on earth" can be summarized as two points: first, purify people's hearts with Buddhism. The second point is to repay the society with Buddhist charity. Therefore, carrying forward the concept of "Buddhism on earth" and advocating Buddhist charity are also practicing the fundamental spirit of Mahayana Bodhisattva's "compassion for the world".