Do you believe its ever possible to give to charity without ulterior motives?

Question

It seems to me, that everyone that gives to the poor and stuff is getting something out of the giving. Whether its the praise, the recognition, write ups in newspaper, or whatever. Is there anyway to really do this with 100% pure motives?

Answer 1

Yes. Anonymous donations.

Answer 2

The purest reason I can give is..... it pleases God.. If he gave you talent it would be a sin to waste your gift.

Answer 3

I do it all the time, you see a need and you take care of it.  No muss, no fuss.

Answer 4

no, not really. whatever your motivation is, it still comes from the inside of you.

Answer 5

Yes. People do it all the time. Most of the are anonymous so you never hear about it usually.

Answer 6

It does seem there is always something you get out of giving to the poor, even if its just a thank you. But there really isn't anything wrong with that.

Answer 7

I don't. It makes me feel good that I can bring some sunshine into other people's lives. I have alot of fun with it. I Love shopping, and am always buying toys and teddy bears for sick and abused children. Don't need no recognition, just want to make someone smile.

My motives are 100% Pure. I've never gotten any write ups in a newspaper, recognition, or praise. Just thank you notes from the places I've donated to let me know that the children loved them. It makes me smile to know that I have made someones day.

Answer 8

Yes, to use Buddism as an example:

Instead of personal, individual, free-willed agape (active love), Buddhism teaches an impersonal, universal feeling of compassion (karuna). Compassion is something we often hear more about than agape in the modern West, for (as Dostoyevsky put it) “love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams.”

Karuna and agape lead the disciple to do similar, strikingly selfless deeds — but in strikingly different spirits. Both points are shown by the Buddhist story of a saint who, like St. Martin of Tours, gave his cloak to a beggar. But the Buddhist's explanation was not “because I love you” or “because Christ loves you” but rather: "This is the enlightened thing to do. For if you were freezing and had two gloves on one hand and none on the other hand, would it not be the enlightened thing to do to give one of the gloves to the bare hand?”

So see it this way.. all human beings are not individual selves but part of a single "pantheistic" being. Giving to another isn't for your "self" or for the other person just a logical efficient redistribution of the material.

Answer 9

I have been doing it for 30 years, give cash in an envelope, no one has caught me yet,