Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you

By  Misterbcc

There are three jewels/paths in Buddhism, ethical discipline, meditatative stabilisation, and wisdom. I’ll be sharing with you today a bit about ethical discipline, covering three main aspect:


1) Right speech: true, kind and appropriate speech
2) Right activity: actions which do not harm others
3) Right livelihood – obtaining our substinence – food clothing and so forth – by non- harmful and honest means.

I’d like to share with you a tale on ethical discipline, namely right activity: actions that do not harm others. In this ever changing world times are getting tougher and tougher. However, we would still like to hope that people are still generally born good. Having said this, we may find that some people we meet in life will test us. This may be through things that happen to us which are unprovoked through no fault of our own. One may often find that one is sometimes left with no immediate solution of rectifying the situation that one finds oneself in. Should we find ourselves in this situation similar to this paradigm, we will find how we respond to it will make the difference between constant frustration or inner peace.

Let me give illustrate by way of an example based on a true story; a story of two young men, Abraham and Jack. Abraham grew up with great material comfort, taking pleasure for granted (large new house to live in, new cars to drive, overseas holidays, expensive gifts). Jack came from a relatively modest material background. Both grew up in their childhood and teens seeing each other very regularly at family functions and quite a lot of the time Abraham enjoyed taunting Jack of his lesser social economic background. Although at the time Jack felt somewhat left out, he never retaliated. He smiled and knew deep inside his heart that whilst Abraham may have been born more privileged, his life adventures were over. Jack knew that one day, his dreams and aspirations would begin if only he worked hard, made informed decisions and lived sensibly and honourably.

Ten years passed, both boys grew into young men. Abraham found love early, married and had a child. He made good investment choices that most people would admire. His dream was to retire at forty years of age, which, given his investment choices, seemed very much a possibility. That was the case, until for the want of greed, a poor investment choice went south and Abraham’s fortune was completely stripped off him by his debtors leaving him bankrupt. Upon hearing this, Jack could have rubbed salt in Abraham’s wounds, however he chose to keep silent. Not only that, Jack prayed for  Abraham and his immediate family to find a solution to this very difficult situation. Jack chose to forgive and in doing so chose good over evil for himself. This way his conscience was clear, his heart pure and his earlier burden lessened. By letting past wrongs go, Jack found peace within himself.

This brings us to the moral of the tale. There is no need, no matter what one’s situation to feel miserable about circumstances. One has to, as best they can, make their own circumstances. And by not harming others, and wishing others well, one will find greater contentment on one’s life path.

Volunteering at FareShare - Right Intentions moving into Right Actions

As part of our exploration of the Noble Eightfold Path, the Kadhampa Youth Group organised a volunteering event to put into action our 'Right Intentions' of love and compassion through assisting a charity organisation in hunger relief. Living in a developed nation, most of us are fortunate not having to worry about where our next meal is ; but for the many homeless and poor people in Melbourne, this is a daily struggle. We participated in a volunteering shift at the FareShare kitchens on July 24th and it proved to be an enlightening and meaningful experience.

Kadhampa Youth decided to support the good work of FareShare, an inspirational not-for-profit organisation innovatively tackling both food insecurity and food wastage in Melbourne, feeding the hungry in a practical and sustainable manner. They receive donations of surplus good quality food - which would otherwise go to landfills - from supermarkets, food manufacturers, butchers, bakeries and other generous businesses. Tonnes of rescued food are then transformed by the FareShare kitchen into healthy, nutritious meals which are distributed to charities to deliver to those in need.

One early Saturday morning, we met at the FareShare kitchen in Abbotsford, equipped with our aprons and caps, ready to do our little bit for the community. We were greeted by one of the chef managers at FareShare, Kellie, an enthusiastic, warm and friendly lady who introduced us to their kitchen and taught us how to prepare the meals.

Our first task was to make sausage rolls – and right from scratch! We worked as teams through each step of the process, from mixing the raw ingredients to cutting pastry squares, to rolling the filling up in pastry, and putting the trays into the oven to cook. Whilst the sausage rolls quietly baked away, we split up into small groups taking on different tasks: finely dicing vegies for quiches, packing sweet potato curry spaghetti into vacuum bags, and packing quiches for delivery.

The Kadhampa Youth Group & Friends:
Maureen, TuYi, Therese, Eric, Lisa, Enlin, Rebecca, Joseph, Jennifer and Sandra


Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the FareShare experience:

“It was a great experience to join in the FareShare volunteering. I not only met a lot of friends in the FareShare house but also enjoyed making meals for the poor. It was very well organised and the chef, Kellie, gave clear instructions. To tell the truth I've never made sausage rolls before. I couldn't believe that some of the golden brown sausage rolls were made by us when they open the oven. When I thought of the poor people enjoying eating the food I made, I felt very happy to contribute. Thanks to the organiser and I'd love to join these kinds of activities in the future.” ~ Tu Yi

“I thought it was quite fun and a good learning experience in terms of learning what goes on behind the scenes of a charity and how to make sausage rolls. It's nice knowing that your little bit of work will be appreciated by those who will really need it.” ~ Lisa

"FareShare was rejuvenating to the spirit. The 3.5 hours of preparing food for the hungry people in Melbourne may not be that much, but it was more than enough to make me always remember to have a grateful heart. It was a lot of fun too because you see everyone doing a simple task wholeheartedly. At that particular moment, the group had put into action the 'right intention'. It may not be the grandest step, but every little step counts especially when this little step is done with much love and compassion." ~ Maureen

“My experience volunteering at FareShare was an enjoyable one. It was a good way to give back to the community, and we also got to practice our cooking skills and have fun whilst doing it, even meeting some new people along the way. Overall it was a fun and fulfilling experience.” ~ Rebecca

Volunteering with FareShare gave us an invaluable opportunity to connect with and give a little something back to the wider community. With the ‘Right Intention’ in mind, sharing a few hours of our time, and geared with enthusiasm and energy, we hope that the small contribution we made will help make a difference to the growing number of people affected by food insecurity and poor nutrition.

It is from the heart that we give most, it is through practice that we learn best, and it is by working together that we make the greatest positive contribution to the world we live in.