Fair trade gifts

Looking for gifts? You may be interested in visiting
The Trading Circle website:  www.thetradingcircle.com.au
and the Oxfam website:  www.oxfam.org.au/

Both of these organisations work in fair trade partnerships with craftspeople in African, Asian and Latin American countries who live in situations of severe poverty.

Brotherhood, world peace and social service

Daily life in our society provides us with multiple opportunities on a variety of levels to be of service for the welfare of others. We are encouraged to contribute to international campaigns related to human rights and disaster relief. At the level of our local communities, there seems to be an increasing number of avenues for us to be of service to others. Our own families, work places and circle of friends also provide constant avenues for service.

It is unlikely that anyone would deny that service for the well-being of others was positive and the sort of behaviour that should be encouraged. But does it really contribute to world peace? I would suggest that it depends on the context and our intent.

The motivations behind our service are important. If we act from a position of viewing ourselves as superior or are attached to the outcomes of our service, then our service may not promote more positive relationships. We may indeed put up barriers that strengthen the sense of ‘them’ and ‘us’ or ‘me’, rather than reducing the barriers to allow a feeling of ‘we’ness, fellowship or oneness to flourish. So our intentions behind our acts of service are powerful determinants of whether or not our service will contribute to peace. As we are frequently reminded by spiritual teachers, for service to contribute powerfully to peaceful relationships it must be open-hearted and altruistic.  

Peaceful relationships are central to building world peace. As the Dalai Lama stresses, only through kindness and love can peace be achieved …. whether it is personal inner peace, peaceful personal relationships or peaceful relationships between people of different cultures and nations. The Dalai Lama assures us that all this is possible. But first we must change ourselves.

Action motivated by love and compassion is our aim. Compassion is a deep feeling that one cannot bear other’s suffering without acting to relieve it. Compassion leads to a strong commitment to acting for the welfare of others. This is unbiased service toward all beings, without reference to their values, beliefs, habits or relationship to ourselves. Selfless service, without attachment, contributes powerfully to peaceful relationships and hence to world peace.

Daily life in our society provides us with multiple opportunities on a variety of levels to be of service for the welfare of others. We are encouraged to contribute to international campaigns related to human rights and disaster relief. At the level of our local communities, there seems to be an increasing number of avenues for us to be of service to others. Our own families, work places and circle of friends also provide constant avenues for service.

It is unlikely that anyone would deny that service for the well-being of others was positive and the sort of behaviour that should be encouraged. But does it really contribute to world peace? I would suggest that it depends on the context and our intent.

The motivations behind our service are important. If we act from a position of viewing ourselves as superior or are attached to the outcomes of our service, then our service may not promote more positive relationships. We may indeed put up barriers that strengthen the sense of ‘them’ and ‘us’ or ‘me’, rather than reducing the barriers to allow a feeling of ‘we’ness, fellowship or oneness to flourish. So our intentions behind our acts of service are powerful determinants of whether or not our service will contribute to peace. As we are frequently reminded by spiritual teachers, for service to contribute powerfully to peaceful relationships it must be open-hearted and altruistic.  

Peaceful relationships are central to building world peace. As the Dalai Lama stresses, only through kindness and love can peace be achieved …. whether it is personal inner peace, peaceful personal relationships or peaceful relationships between people of different cultures and nations. The Dalai Lama assures us that all this is possible. But first we must change ourselves.

Action motivated by love and compassion is our aim. Compassion is a deep feeling that one cannot bear other’s suffering without acting to relieve it. Compassion leads to a strong commitment to acting for the welfare of others. This is unbiased service toward all beings, without reference to their values, beliefs, habits or relationship to ourselves. Selfless service, without attachment, contributes powerfully to peaceful relationships and hence to world peace.

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Sharing ideas about social service activities

T.O.S. groups around Australia are involved in a wide variety of social service activities, some on their own and others in partnership with other community groups.  Below are a few examples:

Running a social activity group for residents in an aged care facility.

Being a personal visitor to residents in aged care facilities.

Volunteering for a hospital visitor scheme.

Organising a collection point for packaged food-stuffs to be distributed to families in need and/or through programs for the homeless.

Collecting second-hand household items for women and families moving from refuges to more permanent housing.

Collecting cleaning materials and personal toiletries to make ‘starter packs’ for homeless women and families moving into long-term accommodation.

Knitting squares to be made into blankets for homeless people or to be sent to refugee camps through programs like Wrap with Love.

Collecting used stamps for charity groups.

Collecting donations to support people who have suffered as a result of natural disasters.

Being selective when buying goods, by supporting companies that do not use child labour and who pay reasonable wages; choosing items carrying Fair Trade stickers. See the Oxfam website for more information www.oxfam.org.au
Supporting international social-justice actions through groups such as Amnesty International. www.amnesty.org.au  This group invites interested people to join them in letter and fax writing at a governmental level to influence decisions about individual and group human rights.

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International T.O.S. social welfare projects to support

Many T.O.S. groups in Asia and South America maintain extensive social welfare programs that you or your group may like to consider supporting. In most cases, Australian dollars go a long way. Some of these programs are listed below:

Adyar

A large number of social welfare programs are run from the Theosophical Society headquarters at Adyar. These include:

Bhubaneswar T.O.S. (Northern India)

This T.O.S. group runs extensive social welfare programs for the poor, focused on family support, health and education. Among other things, they provide adult literacy programs, free medicines, food for lepers and school materials for children.

Brazil

The Theosophical Society has run an orphanage for about ten years on its premises on the outskirts of Brasilia. Mrs Zeneida Cereja da Silva and her team of supporters are doing a marvellous job of taking care of 20 children from very poor backgrounds.

Pakistan

The T.O.S. in Pakistan runs a large number of social welfare programs:

Philippines

A wide range of social welfare programs are run by the T.O.S. in the Philippines, including:

To find out more: www.theosophy.ph/tos.htm

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Areas of service: Social Service