Bizah asked the Master a question he had been carrying for some time: “Master, should we give or not give to beggars?”

“Leela,” the Master said, “How would you answer this?”

“I always give what I can to beggars. I can’t pass by one and not give if I still have a coin in my pocket.”

“Tonga,” the Master said, “How would you answer this question?”

“I never give to beggars. They need to find ways to help themselves. Giving to them only encourages reliance on others and laziness.”

Bizah said, “Master, I asked you for your answer. I wasn’t interested in hearing Leela’s and Tonga’s.”

Said the Master, “It was necessary for you to hear their answers first, Bizah, before you could understand mine. Both Leela and Tonga were coming from a personal belief that dictated how they would respond to the beggars they came upon. You can see from their answers that their beliefs are different and lead to conditioned responses.

“I never know whether I am going to give to a beggar until I come upon him.  At that moment, I go inside myself and see how I feel about giving to that particular beggar at that particular time. I may give, or I may not give. But I will be acting from my own inner being, which is a much more reliable source for action than our conditioned beliefs.”