This is a rewrite of Buddhist Divine Stories about Rupavati's journey of charity. Originally created under Professor Jessica Zu's instruction.
A Discourse on Charity
Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying in the city of Goros, together with a large amount of monks and nuns. The Blessed One addressed the monks and nuns: “If beings want to know charity, the result of charity, and the truth of performing charity, then they should never harm any beings, including themselves.”
Some passengers in doubt questioned the Buddha: “Oh, the Blessed One, how can you achieve the ultimate altruism without harming any beings, including yourself?”
“Oh, my dear companions, the way of charity lies in my words. Now listen to this.”
Rupavati’s Story
Long, long, time ago, my fellow listeners, there was a city called Utpalavati. It was situated in the middle of a plain called Goas. It was full of diligent people who lived on farming crops like corn, bean, and potato. Among all of those diligent people, there was a renowned woman named Rupavati. She was kind, generous, wealthy, and people in Utpalavati often say that she knew the truth of charity. This woman Rupavati was especially renowned for her generosity to beggars. She gave food and coins out to people in difficulties without ever asked for repayment.
Then one year in the city of Utpalavati, a famine occurred unprecedentedly, and the people of it suffered in the threat of failing corps and fatal hunger. Rupavati wanted to reach out to her, helping hands desperately and thus decided to distribute her food storage to everyone who was in hunger. Rupavati was then constantly witnessed walking out of her home and carrying three full baskets of corn, beans, and potatoes.
Rupavati’s charity was effective. One day she walked in the city of Utpalavati as usual and heard an exhausted cry coming out of a birthing room. A woman dressed poorly was giving birth. She delivered a son who was adorable and vital. This woman, in extreme pain and hunger, saw Rupavati walking in and ignored her. She held her son high with her weak and thin arms and opened her mouth, preparing to devour the adorable and vital child. Rupavati was shocked by the impending cannibalism and said: “Oh, great mother, please stop. Why would you devour your dearest son?” The woman slowed down her movement and said: “Generous Rupavati, I was about to die because of hunger. I have no choice but to devour my dearest son.” Heard the woman’s words, Rupavati took corn, a bean, and a potato out of all three of her baskets and handed them in front of the woman. The woman took over the foods and said: “Generous Rupavati, may your merit be larger than the dome above Utpalavati.” Rupavati, with the merit in her nature, said: “Very well, you shall not try to harm your adorable and vital son again after receiving foods from all three of my baskets.”
Here, my fellow listeners, Rupavati, performed charity without harming beings, including herself. Her merit was larger than the dome above Utpalavati, and her story in the year of famine continued.
One day Rupavati walked in the city of Utpalavati as usual, carrying three baskets of corn, beans, and potatoes. Her husband accompanied her. They ran out of food very soon, and Rupavati’s husband heard a desperate cry coming out of a birthing room on their way back home. A woman dressed shabbily was giving birth. She delivered a daughter who was adorable and vital. Rupavati’s husband pointed the direction of the birthing room for Rupavati, who walked in and saw the woman. This woman, in extreme pain and hunger, saw Rupavati walking in and ignored her. She held her daughter high with her weak and thin arms and sat motionlessly and dim eyes. Rupavati was shocked by the woman’s hopelessness and said: “Dear great mother, why would you cast a dim sight the birth of your adorable and vital daughter?” The woman lowered her arms and said: “Generous Rupavati, I was exhausted after giving birth and faced with days of hunger. I have nothing to do but to wait hopelessly for me and my daughter’s death.” Rupavati thought of her empty baskets and said: “Dear great mother, I have nothing to give you by now. I will bring corn, a bean, and a potato from my home just for you.”
However, time would not bring generosity to the woman. She said: “Generous Rupavati, I gave all of my vitality to my daughter, and the fire of my life is about to distinguish. No sooner after you walked out of the room, my life will be blown off just like a flickering candle in the middle of the most powerful storm I had ever seen in Utpavalati.” Heard the woman’s words, Rupavati’s husband seemed resolved, came into the birth room, and said: “I should generate food for this woman with my flesh and blood.” A solution was provided, although a harmful one.
The woman shook her head with a bitter smile on her face and said: “Husband of the Generous Rupavati, there is something you should know. Devouring human flesh is the most condemned action under the dome of this world. I shall not accept your offer. If both of you are resolved to help me, then take my daughter away, raise her up, and leave me to my fate. I am but ready to die for my daughter.”
Then it occurred to Rupavati: “If I take the daughter and leave this woman in extreme pain alone, the woman would die for certain. If I force the woman to eat my husband’s flesh, my husband would be harmed by himself. What can I do to save her without harming any beings?”
Rupavati, after a short moment of contemplation, determined her action and said: “Dear great mother, I will perform a vow of truth: A wonderful and marvelous mind such as your determination to sacrifice has never been seen or heard before! Dear great mother, by this truth, this vow of truth, may your health recover to the first moment of your birth.”
At the moment the vow was made, the woman’s health recovered, and felt no pain nor hunger anymore.
And so the young woman Rupavati came to be known as the Generous Rupavati.
Coda
“You may have some doubt or uncertainty, my fellow listeners. The Generous Rupavati from Utpalavati was exactly one of my past lives. Her understanding of the truth of charity was no far away from my understandings.”
“You may have some doubt or uncertainty, my fellow listeners. If all beings want to know charity, the result of charity, and the truth of performing charity as I do, they should never harm any beings, including themselves.”
This was said by the Blessed One. With their minds inspired, monks, nuns, and passengers all rejoiced at the words of the Blessed One.
So ends the story of Rupavati.
“Rupavati’s Story” is a revision of “Rupavati Offers Her Breasts” in Divine Stories translated by Andy Rotman. The original story is about extreme charity in dilemmas that take serious body injuries to solve. “Rupavati’s Story” seeks to provide a modern solution to the dilemmas in three aspects: maximization of resources, avoidance of violence, and reformation of society. This is important because to uphold and perform Peter Singer’s “effective altruism” is a more practical method than radical altruism (Ricard, 2016).
The maximization of resources in “Rupavati’s Story” manifests in Rupavati offering foods and Rupavati’s three baskets. Being a wealthy philanthropist, Rupavati “decided to distribute her food storage to everyone who was in hunger.” An active attitude of helping people in difficulties extinguishes the potentiality of moral dilemmas largely in the first place. Comparing to the Rupavati, who walks around the city empty-handed and shows no recognition of the severe famine, the well-prepared Rupavati in “Rupavati’s Story” makes good use of her privileges. Rupavati even preaches Buddhism through her charity activity when she “took a corn, a bean, and a potato out of all three of her baskets and handed them in front of the woman.” The three baskets here symbolize the Triple-gems: dhamma, sangha, and Buddha. By offering three Buddhist treasures to the people she saves, Rupavati demonstrates the Buddhist way of living as performing socially worthwhile charity. People who receive triple-gems can be seen as officially taking refuge under Buddhism. Therefore, Rupavati maximizes foods' effectiveness as her central resources by reaching out actively and converting people to Buddhism. The only thing Rupavati can do is to offer foods and mental catharsis as much as she can to hungry people in Utpalavati. In “Rupavati’s Story,” she tries her best both physically and mentally, thus meets the standard of “effective altruism.”
The complete avoidance of violence is the emphasis and an important measure to achieve “effective altruism.” As said in Ethics in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, “Violence directly causes harm and suffering to sentient beings, pollutes the minds of those who use it, and creates cycles of hatred and retribution that can inflict terrible damage, both physical and psychological” (Goodman, 2017). A charity that is accompanied by violence corrupts the performer of charity and leaves a cycle of damage to everyone who knows the violent charity. Hence, a better way to exercise charity is to avoid harming any being, including the performer, during the process. Rupavati in “Rupavati’s Story” prevents violence from both the receiver and the giver of charity. When Rupavati says, “you shall not try to harm your adorable and vital son again,” she stops a mother from eating her child by providing foods to her. To avoid the loss of life and potential physical harm is the charity's fundamental purpose in “Rupavati’s Story.” Rupavati’s generous and witty action easily help her save people in Utpalavati. Furthermore, Rupavati keeps her husband, a giver of charity, from hurting himself when she says, “I will perform a vow of truth.” The vow of truth is a diegetic power in Divine Stories, and Rupavati in “Rupavati’s Story” makes good use of it to solve the moral dilemma between a dying mother and her husband. Breaking the harsh limitation of a moral dilemma using a karmically approved magic instead of leaving a cycle of violence, Rupavati solidly practices the truth of charity. Effective altruism requires altruists “to do it in the wisest way and with the largest impact possible.” In Rupavati’s case, she solves the dilemma, corresponding to the wisest way, and prevents the negative impacts of violence, corresponding to the largest impact possible. Therefore, Rupavati acts in an effective altruism way by avoiding violence in “Rupavati’s Story.”
Rupavati proposes the reformation of society in two methods. She breaks the social hierarchy of class and the Buddhist stereotype of the female. Rupavati in Divine Stories is an upper-class woman who does not care about the fate of Utpavalati and the disaster. The story's diction proves her characteristic when she “left her home and went out for a walk.” “Went out for a walk” yields strong emptiness of emotion in Rupavati’s behavior as if her walk is a mundane and ordinary habit that she keeps when a severe famine happens to the city, and it causes difficulties “for people to keep on living” (Rotman, 2017). Only someone who does not need to worry about the famine can “went out for a walk,” and that person is Rupavati. The apathy shown through Rupavati’s action reveals a severe dissociation between Rupavati's life and the life of other people in Utpavalati. To revise this discrepancy between social classes, Rupavati in “Rupavati’s Story” feels great compassion for people who are suffering and “wanted to reach out her helping hands desperately.” While the separation of classes is not broken, Rupavati contributes her effort by showing sympathy and performing charity without asking for repayment. Her stand signals a start of social classes' merge and a challenge of the traditional hierarchy depicted in ancient stories. Rupavati further stands against the stereotypical element: the transformation of female Buddhists to male bodies. At the end of Divine Stories, Rupavati changes to “young man Rupavata” (Rotman, 2017). The sex change incorporated in the stories implies an inherent mistrust in females and appreciation to males, for the sex change is entitled to Rupavati as a proper end for her tremendous sacrifice. While in “Rupavati’s Story,” Rupavati remains the reputation of “generous Rupavati” and ends up with a female body. This revision provides a modern view of the traditional one and follows the universality of Buddha-nature in Mahayana school. A generous person does not need any test from upper gods nor any transformation in sexual organs to perform charity or gain merits. Proposing reformations to society, Rupavati again practices effective altruism. To break social hierarchy and stereotype is to fight against oppression from people in power, which generates large positive impacts on the oppressed ones, while the only cost of such reformation is a group of foods in three baskets. Rupavati then influences many when she tries her best to save people from hunger. Effective altruism is therefore achieved by social reformation.
Two measures are demonstrated in “Rupavati’s Story.” The practical one refers to Rupavati acting like a modern social activist and philanthropist who constantly engages in activities to help people in suffering. The magical one refers to Rupavati utilizing Buddhist magic to recover the mother’s health and showing the miracle effect of believing in Buddhism. Most importantly, the moral dilemma is solved in peaceful and less gory ways. From a modern perspective, “Rupavati’s Story” modifies three significant facets: maximization of resources, avoidance of violence, and reformation of society. The central idea of charity remains the same, while the modern view takes on a method that complies with effective altruism instead of absolute altruism, where people may conduct violent and extreme behaviors for the sole goal of charity.
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