两天前，我在中国与一群颇具影响力的商界领袖交流。其中一位提出了一个问题：“你们谈到甘地的精神继承人维诺巴·巴韦，他徒步穿越印度8万公里，激励人们向邻居捐赠500万英亩土地。没错，这或许是人类历史上前所未有的壮举，但如今又有多少人记得维诺巴呢？想想看，有多少人记得史蒂夫·乔布斯以及他留下的遗产？” 从短期影响的角度来看，这的确是一个值得深思的难题。
事实上，《福布斯》杂志也曾发表过一篇类似的文章，提出了这样一个问题：“谁对世界的改变更大：比尔·盖茨还是特蕾莎修女？”他们的结论是比尔·盖茨。然而，我对这位实业家的回应，源于几周前在浦那附近一所学校发生的一件真实故事。我问了孩子们同样的问题：你们长大后想成为谁——比尔·盖茨还是特蕾莎修女？通常情况下，大约60%到80%的孩子会选择比尔·盖茨，但在这里，大多数人选择了特蕾莎修女。于是我进一步追问：为什么？当人们开始举手时，一个腼腆的小女孩——大概11岁——举起了手，犹豫了一下，然后又放下了。看到这一幕，我鼓励她发言，而她的回答让我震惊不已。
先生，比尔·盖茨用金钱的力量改变了世界，特蕾莎修女用爱的力量改变了世界。我认为爱比金钱更有力量。
故事到此结束。它简洁明了、优雅得体、切中要害，无需班级其他同学的回应。
故事的结尾，开启了一个大胆的可能性。为了契合我们此次聚会的主题——我的“不可能的梦想”，我相信也是我们所有人共同的梦想——那就是将爱的精神从宝莱坞电影中单纯的情感层面，提升到我们内心深处更加强大的精神层面。作为人类，我们已经理解了智商（IQ），甚至情商（EQ），但世界现在需要的是慈悲商数（CQ）。这是一种心灵的智慧。十多年前，神经科学家发现，从物理角度来说，神经元不仅存在于我们的大脑中，也存在于我们的心脏中。正如卡比尔和许多圣贤所言：敞开你的心扉，它就能容纳整个宇宙！
我们唤醒集体慈悲心的最大希望，竟来自——孩子们！就像那个11岁的孩子，他凭直觉就知道，只要心怀爱，就能移山填海。甘地在与玛丽亚·蒙特梭利博士的对话中，曾清晰地阐述过这一点：“在我生命的早期，我发现，若要领悟真理，我必须遵循爱的法则，即便付出生命的代价。而当我拥有孩子之后，我发现，通过孩子们，学习爱的法则最为有效。”
爱的法则在于，它的半衰期远比物质法则长得多。它的影响可以持续数代。我们从电子设备中获得的灵感，往往在几分钟内就沦为单纯的信息。但当同样的灵感通过言行一致的人传递给我们时，它会在充满活力的振动环境中激活这些信息，并在我们的意识深处产生共鸣。正因如此，从长远来看，物质法则根本无法与爱的法则抗衡。出于爱而创作的作品，无论多么微小或卑微，都拥有永恒的生命力。
几年前，我和妻子进行了一次徒步朝圣之旅。我们从古吉拉特邦的甘地静修处出发，一路向南，沿途吃着人们提供的食物，睡在人们提供的地方。这是一次彻底改变我们生活的体验。一路上，我们反复感受到爱的法则，尤其是甘地和维诺巴（Vinoba）——他们也曾走过同样的道路——给予我们的爱。有一次，在拜访附近的一个小村庄时，甘地突然意识到已经是下午六点了——这是他的祈祷时间。当时他正和几位长者在农田里散步，但他立刻就坐了下来开始祈祷。长者们有些不知所措，便叫来了几个碰巧在附近的人。
戈瓦尔丹·帕特尔就是其中之一。当时他读五年级，两岁时母亲就去世了，父亲患有小儿麻痹症；他对甘地并不太感兴趣。然而，机缘巧合之下，他在甘地祈祷时静静地坐在那里。就在那时，他的心境发生了转变。他参加了甘地的晚间演讲，并在同一天决定将自己的一生奉献给公共服务。我们见到他时，他已82岁高龄，精神矍铄，不仅改变了自己的村庄，还改变了其他几十个村庄。
像他这样的故事还有很多，例如纳加尔达斯·什里马利的故事。在火车站，甘地正好路过，人群熙熙攘攘，什里马利大声问道：“巴普，我的人生该何去何从？”巴普回答说：“你去把你的价值观教给其他像你一样的孩子吧。”当时什里马利只有16岁，从那天起，直到生命的最后一刻，这位“贱民”纳加尔达斯都致力于儿童教育事业。
真正的灵感的确会持续很久。朋友们，我们需要在我们内心深处，以及我们最大的希望——我们的孩子，下一代——心中，重新点燃这爱的法则。
我想以一个真实的故事作为结尾。
很多年前，我的好朋友雅各布·尼德尔曼在旧金山州立大学教课时，向三十名学生提出了一个问题：“我们如何才能做一个好人？”一位学生举手说：“我从我五岁的儿子身上学会了善良。”他接着解释道：“我和儿子在墨西哥过圣诞节，他正兴奋地玩着前一天晚上收到的玩具。这时，一个来自附近贫民窟的孩子走了过来，我让儿子把玩具给他。孩子苦苦哀求了一番，哭了一会儿，终于答应了，拿起了一个玩具——他最不喜欢的那个！”这就像《狮子王》里木法沙和辛巴的经典场景一样，父亲看着五岁儿子的眼睛说：“不行，儿子，别给他那个玩具。把你最喜欢的玩具给他。”
这时，儿子本能地想要抗议，但看到父亲严厉却又慈爱的眼神，他只好不情愿地走到门口，把心爱的玩具送人了。父亲心想，儿子回来后肯定得好好安慰他一番；没想到，儿子竟然蹦蹦跳跳地回来了，这让他大吃一惊。他用五岁孩子特有的天真无邪的眼神看着父亲，说道：“爸爸，太棒了！我还能再玩一次吗？”
这就是爱的法则，愿我们都能一次又一次地践行它。
**自那篇文章发表以来，比尔·盖茨也投入精力探索其他方面的影响力。
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It is NOT fair to say Bill Gates used ONLY the power of money to change the world. Love is what moves money to the right and human direction. How many rich people this world have? Where are they from what the Gates are doing?
Mother Theresa was once asked by a reporter why she didn't try to change the political system in India rather than perpetuate it with her charity. Her answer was so simple and I never forgot it. "That's not my job." I think each of us has a role. We can't do it all but whatever we are personally suppose to do may we each do it with the most Love we can spare...
Javed Akhtar has a lovely poem where he expresses the sentiment that he dare not ask Mother Teresa the question of why she never questions the system that keeps perpetuating the poverty when she accepts the donations from the leaders (such as Bill Gates) of the system that condemns so much of humanity for so long to such abject and inhumane poverty. The poet concludes that he dare not ask such a question for by asking it he will have to assume responsibility for his own role in the system. To walk and trample others or to not walk and be trampled..... such are the choices that so many of our modern systems confine us to.
Nice article. But, I don't understand the human need to compare, judge, classify, analyze and finally try and reduce down to a factoid or truth that is then expected to be unassailable.How do you measure impact objectively that every living being, atleast sentient beings can all sign off. Therefore, celebrate everything and be inspired by all those unknown, unsung heroes each of us encounter in our lives- if we only learn to look and learn.
If we dig deeper, we can find many negative points to worry about both Gates and yes Mother Theresa as well (Christopher Hitchens et al). I like Ana's views on this as well.
Both r great in my eyes&mind, but it is in different way, one was mainly for religious site, also so kind hearted her contribution for each person of the world, Another one is richest one also mankind oriented, i appreciate him in this regard, i m from bangladesh in asia, i m a social worker, i m sending him my web links, i m asking him for share with my little works, also m asking him to pay a visit my country, my works,http://www.helpingothers.cl...,
https://secure.avaaz.org/en...
Please see this
http://www.activistpost.com...
Bill Gates is a firm believer in eugenics. This is why he is pushing toxic vaccines in third world countries... he is no humanitarian. Sorry for the not-so-positive comment, but I don't like giving credit to people who mean the entire globe harm. I've read some horror stories about Mother Theresa, as well. But, I agree. We should all strive to make the world a better place. Thanks for sharing!
We are encouraged to leave this world just a little bit better than we found it. We are taught to leave the wood pile just a little bit bigger than we found it. I thank Bill and his wife for caring enough to share and leave this world just a little bit better.
Here's a good article that puts some balance into the Mother Teresa myth. I've spent some time in Calcutta and also found she is not a popular figure there.
http://mukto-mona.net/Artic...
I'm sure Bill Gates is no saint either, but at least some of the benefits of his work are visible among the criticisms. But the main point is that the author's walking pilgrimage across India is a great story! Always best to stick to what you know.
I read the walking pilgrimage and found it quite inspiring. But I think the mention of Mother Teresa is seriously misplaced. Her idea of love was that the people at her centres would find Jesus through suffering. Although they have changed since her death, she didn't even give them anti-malarials, and the vast donations were spent either on opening new centres that worked the same way at negligible cost or filling the coffers of Rome. When people offered to donate stuff that wasn't hard cash, they were generally refused. This has been documented in a number of books (for instance,
The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice), and admittedly some of them are anti-Catholic, but the data and reference material available as proof is mostly incontrovertible. With regards Bill Gates, I am sure his philanthropy started to improve his image (which was very poor at the time) and he was maybe tiring of Microsoft. But love him or hate him, the protocols he has set up for dispensing funds are carefully data-led. This means that charities are held very accountable (most charities in the world are not) and that funds - for instance to fight aids - are not hedged with religious paraphernalia such as GW Bush's disastrous funds-with-strings that prevented countries accepting help unless they promoted abstinence over condom use.
I am a great fan of dailygood.org, but tossing 'feelgood' names in the mix without first knowing the facts could considerably erode its credibility and effectiveness.
[Hide Full Comment]Truly, it's not an either or.
both of them did a great job in transforming the world. The inventions of Bill Gates help us cope with the world today and the compassion of Mother Teresa help us treat each other fairly. We need to emulate both of them instead of taking sides.
I hate the fact that they're comparing how good two fantastic people are...why! They both serve as icons for people of different positions in life that serve others in their own way. Mother Theresa gave all of herself to care for others. She was awesome. Bill Gates and his wife are fantastic people...how many rich guys genuinely care and spend so much time helping others and such a massive scale? Even if it were true that Gates had some agenda to push GMOs, vaccines, and Monsanto, many people don't consider this immoral. It's not like he is supporting Hitler and the genocide of the Children of Israel...so back off and grow up.
Actually its debatable over whether Mother Teresa actually did that much good, check out these two articles: http://www.patheos.com/blog...
[Hide Full Comment]http://motherteresawasafrau... As for the Bill Gates argument, the only thing he has ever said in regards to population control (as far as I'm aware) is that “The world today has 6.8 billion people. That’s heading up to about nine billion. Now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.” To me this simply suggests that naturally, as health care and reproductive services improve, the birth rate will decrease. I don't see it as a reason for mass hysteria and a reason to call him evil. I was once a believer in conspiracy theories and I would like to stress the importance of checking out both sides of an argument before you come to any conclusions. If you really want to know if Gates is a good person or not, read both the good and the bad things people have to say about him, then make up your mind.
I prefer to think that Bill Gates has both love and money.
Inspiring Article. One of my favorite quote I read in an elevator in the hospital many years ago is "Smile, it does not cost you anything, but you might get one back." Power of Love can grow exponentially.
Bill Melinda Gates foundation is following the footsteps of Rockfeller foundation (promoters of CGIAR & Syngenta - which controls - world's agriculture in many ways; Syngenta - GM seed co.). Bill Melinda Gates foundation has alloted significant portions of their so called "philanthropy" funds towards GM/GE propagation in Africa along with Rockefeller foundation and their Agriculture lending banks in Kenya and thru CGIAR arms also with Syngenta (a GM Seeds co.)
After 75 years of so called "philanthropy" the funds of Rockefeller foundation has not decreased a bit and ensured a luxury life and government patronage for the entire John-D familytree for many generations. Bill Gates' idea of "philanthropy" is no wonder similar - people simply got carried away by few peanuts given by him for Malaria, poverty aliviation - actual agenda is something else. The foundation invests heavily into the stocks of Bio-Technology firms...
I'm an Organic farmer for the past 4 years - formally I was a Wealth mangement technology guy - thus I have a good inside view of both.
[Hide Full Comment]Thank you for this Wonderful and inspiring article. May we all strive to be of service and to share whatever gift we have been given. Compassion Quotient is Imperative. Live by LOVE, indeed; it has positively impacted my life in ways beyond expressing. In 2005, I sold my home and possessions to create/facilitate a volunteer literacy project in Belize, I've donated programs for 33,340 students & trained 800 teachers to use their own indigenous stories in schools. This year the program is invited to Kenya, Ghana and India, I will go. I'm working hard to raise the funds, I am not sure How it will work out, but I have faith it Will because my goal is to build bridges between cultures, foster understanding and Compassion through our stories. I work often with children, they teach me more than I've ever taught them. We would do well to listen to children more for solutions to world problems and to see REAL compassion.
I also share FREE HUGS worldwide, the connections that occur in moment of embrace are powerful, deep and life altering. Thank you for remind us how important LOVE and Compassion are. HUG and <3, Kristin
[Hide Full Comment]Both charitable giving and loving are good. indeed, sharing money is a form of love. Jesus spoke about it a lot. 2nd only to describing the empire of God, money (and our relationship to it) was the subject that Jesus spoke about most!
Another worthy dynamic to consider is the alleged "justice vs. charity" matter. See: http://www.patheos.com/blog...
I wholeheartedly agree with Lisa, bad spelling or not. Bill Gates is handing out Monsanto nonreproductive genetically modified seeds (Frankinseeds) to millions around the world in the name of charity. Next planting season there will be no seeds to plant from this year's crop.
This is not coming from a place of love.
I have to admit I almost didn't open the article because Bill Gates name was in the heading, but I did and am so elated about the opportunity to embrace the amazing stories highlighted in the piece. I am also in total agreement with Lisa and her sentiments, and my perspective is that the Gates Foundation is in constant conflict with and embraces degrading reform and 'grant' practices toward public education teachers and our efforts to address the needs of all children in our care. And, his GMO ideas have made their way into the foods that are sacred to many of the indigenous peoples around the world, threatening the health of these precious bodies and souls, all in the name of 'progress' by inserting genetics for increased 'nutritional value' and implied 'increased yield'-in essence polluting an entire way of life.
This is a great article. It opens our eyes to possibility. It's unfortunate that we are compelled to judge and condem the efforts of others when they do not line up with our own beliefs. So many people are helped by efforts we do not agree with. There will never be a time when we get it perfect so we should always be thankful that people at least try.
Very touching. All this leaves us with a sense of confidence and hope for Humanity.
Nipun, I enjoyed your article today. It reminded me of how, in their later years, Mother Theresa and John D. Rockefeller looked very much alike, with deep lines in their weathered faces. The difference was that JDR's eyes were the eyes of a dead man: the richest man on earth had eyes with no life or vitality, only cold calculation. MT's eyes were alive and engaging, even tho she'd seen enough human suffering to drive anyone else mad. Who died richer?
Where I would give a tip of the hat to Gates, tho, is that he is looking for root causes of poverty, while MT would never touch that area. She would treat the poor, but never concerned herself with the structural causes of poverty.
And a final thought, the irony and the tragedy of so many institutional religions is that while the founders taught the law of love, in time the institutions are often taken over by lawyers and bureaucrats who practice a love of the law.
Too
much credence is given to the relevance of that initial question posed
by the Indian industrialist. Taken to it's logical extreme, the
question could well be "Who has changed the world more: Adolf Hitler, or
Mother Teresa?"
It's absurd, of COURSE. The question to be contemplated by our
children /youth (or at least suggested for consideration by us) is WHAT
do you want to change. How MUCH is irrelevant, and as you see can
become quite absurd.
Too much credence is given to the relevance of that initial question posed by the indian industrialist. Taken to it's logical extreme, the question could well be "Who has changed the world more: Adolf Hitler, or Mother Teresa?"
It's absurd, of COURSE. The question to be contemplated by our children /youth (or at least suggested for consideration by us) is WHAT do you want to change. How MUCH is irrelevant, and as you see can become quite absurd.
Each of us has the opportunity to make a difference. Thank you for the article, Nipun. I enjoy reading your articles.
I agree with Lisa. Gates is into population control, not saving or helping humanity. Do the research and see.
Jobs had tumor in shape of his ear piece when he died..that is legacy they leave as accumulating wealth without accepting accountability is trashing planet, health, well being...Gates and Allen, Jobs are known because they supplied energy to the old paradigm of wealth making over all ...and the trajectory becomes nihilistic (M Meade) so too their legacy. Think about the press and who sponsors it, governments etc...waking to real values before there is nothing to save is the most important thing we can do, now before we really blow it as a species we can be so much more...how sad if we let the old paradigm define us.
Mother Teresa experienced 40 years
of darkness and doubt, yet she unwaveringly carried on her mission.
I am sorry to say this but Bill Gates promotes things that are distroying our invironment and the health of us and our children. GMO's, toxic vacines....Monsanto. He is saving alot of taxes on his giving indeavors yet human life should be at the front of his motivation that would be in the love of giving.
To understand the greatness of Mister gates, simply Google " YouTube gates vaccines".
If
Bill and Melinda Gates were not inspired by compassion they might be like so many
other billionaires, including many in India who do not use their resources to
make a difference in this world. Compassion and thoughtful allocation of
resources can do enormous good. The world should be grateful that enormous
generosity of spirit and compassion are prompting Bill and Melinda Gates to use
their resources for the betterment of the people of our world.
Beautiful - and let's give Bill Gates credit - he is giving his money and energies from a place of love.
I disagree that Bill Gates doesn't use love too. His methods may differ, he combined heart and mind using the resources he understands to achieve far reaching results. God creates diversity, wouldn't the world be better served by avoiding the polarizing views this article uses to make a point. They each gave in a way that was amazing, I am grateful that these great souls came to serve life.
Thank you for sharing , Mr Mehta , that was inspirational , The Power of Love .