Hi Stephen,Stephen K wrote:I plan on moving to Manchester, UK, perhaps later this year. I've been there twice, and I saw many beggars on the streets. I gave some change to some of them, to others not.
But the Buddha said "When asked, give even if you only have a little" (Dhp. 224).
Since at first I will be using my mother's money until I find a job there, I am not sure whether giving to all beggars will be the right thing to do - it would be a major drainage of money that really is not my own.
So, should I always give to every beggar, or just to some, or to no one?
Some of the beggars here in the UK aren't always genuine. Here's an example:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/fa ... 04984.html
A very poor looking woman with no teeth used to ask people for money outside a supermarket in my area. One day I saw her with false teeth, cosmetics, and clean new clothes sitting laughing on a bus with a friend ! ...then the next day she was toothless outside a supermarket asking for money again.
There can also be people who are funding their alcohol or drug addiction.
If someone is sitting next to a notice with "Cold and hungry" on it, then I'll buy a sandwich and a hot drink and give that to them.
I don't give cash to people in city streets since the time I narrowly missed being mugged by a group of foreign men who gathered around me at a cash machine & told me I'd dropped some money (which I hadn't) as I was about to get a card from my purse.
I think its probably better to give a donation to a charity organisation/soup kitchen for the homeless.
With kind regards,
Aloka