Question 71: DOES BUDDHISM OFFER ANY SOLUTIONS TO THE ISSUE OF GLOBAL POVERTY?

Answer: According to the Law of Karma, poverty can stem from various causes. 

It might be because in a past life, one was stingy and unwilling to help those in need; or it could be the result of wasting resources such as money, food, or clothing. It may also stem from having destroyed the shelters of animals or having spoken contemptuously of the poor. It could also be due to having destroyed the infrastructures of villages during wars. Overall, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of one’s poverty. Only Enlightened Beings can see past lives to understand these causes.

When people are impoverished, the desperation of poverty can easily drive them to commit wrongdoings just to survive, thus compounding their negative karma, which is a truly pitiable situation.

Even if someone with a kind heart offers them food, clothing, or other necessities, their underlying karma of poverty remains. The relief is just temporary, and the suffering soon returns.

The only way to truly escape poverty is to make a strong effort to do good deeds and help others even while in a state of poverty. We cannot wait until we are well-off to start doing good deeds. 

There’s a short video that illustrates this idea: A homeless man buys two boxes of food and sits down to eat by the roadside. Another man approaches and asks for one of the boxes. The homeless man, thinking the other might be as hungry as he is, gives away his second box, accepting that he won’t have enough to eat that day. Little does he know, that the second man is actually wealthy and decides to try testing people’s kindness on that day. After sharing the meal with the homeless man, the wealthy man leaves an envelope for the homeless man and walks away. The homeless man initially is confused and assumes that the man who shared his meal is just another person in need. But when the homeless man opens the envelope, he’s stunned to find a large sum of money, and he bursts into tears because it’s been a long time since he’s had such an amount.

We can infer that the homeless man’s act of kindness – sharing his food even in hardship – reflects a generous heart. He had likely been kind many times in his life, which led to this chance encounter with someone who tested his kindness and rewarded him. The poverty he currently faces may have been caused by different karma.

Organizations that aim to help people overcome poverty should emphasize the importance of kindness, especially being kind even in difficult circumstances. Then, they should help find meaningful work for the poor, which will gradually lead them to better fortune. If they receive help in this way, their lives will be changed sustainably. Those who can remain kind even while still in poverty will likely see their circumstances improving more quickly.

We should also caution everyone, especially those in the food industry, that wastefully discarding leftover food is one of the causes of poverty. In Vietnamese culture, there is a deep respect for food, even a single grain of rice, which is almost seen as a religious practice.