{"id":84,"date":"2010-08-07T08:54:12","date_gmt":"2010-08-07T08:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html"},"modified":"2010-08-07T08:54:12","modified_gmt":"2010-08-07T08:54:12","slug":"generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html","title":{"rendered":"Generosity as an Antidote to Greed: 40 Billionaires Donate Half Their Wealth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Has the Buddhist revolution begun? This Wall Street Journal headline<a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424052748704017904575409193790337162.html?KEYWORDS=superrich\">, &#8220;U. S. Superrich Vow to Share Wealth<\/a>&#8221; gives hope that perhaps the revolution has begun. Buddhism doesn&#8217;t have a patent on generosity and none of these philanthropists has cited Buddhist reasons for doing so, but doing so certainly embraces the virtue of <i>dana<\/i> (generosity). Nevertheless, these <i>bodhisattvas<\/i> are seeking to make a difference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>One strategy to enforce generosity is through taxation. According to Timothey Geitner this woudl be bad for the economy. For people to give voluntarily because it is the right thing to do rather than because they are mandated to do so seems to make more sense. It also gives these individuals the ability to direct where there funds go and whom they should benefit, rather than going into government coffers to pay for whatever the government deems appropriate (and that seems rather always and lately on defense spending.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle donated $46.9 million to his medical foundation, George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, donated $175 million to USC&#8217;s film school, Barron Hilton, son of hotelier Conrad Hilton, will donate $1.2 billion to the Conrad H. Hilton Foundation, Peter Peterson, co-founder of Blackstone Group, will donate $1 billion to the foundation bearing his name, and Patrick Soon-Shiong, CEO of Abraxes BioScience, donated $65 to Saint John&#8217;s Health Center Foundation. The effort towards such giving has been spearheaded by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates. They have convinced 38 other such mega-wealthy to do as they have pledged. The goal that Buffet is aiming for is setting an example for others, not through coercion but through admiration and inspiration.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg puts it this way, &#8220;<span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Making a difference in people&#8217;s lives &#8211; and seeing it with your own eyes &#8211; is perhaps the most satisfying thing you&#8217;ll ever do. If you want to fully enjoy life &#8211; give. And if you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing &#8211; by far &#8211; is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children. Long term, they will benefit more from your philanthropy than from your will. I believe the philanthropic contributions I&#8217;m now making are as much gifts to my children as they are to the recipient organizations.&#8221;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span class=\"Apple-style-span\"><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">To see the list of 40 donors and their pledge letter visit the &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/givingpledge.org\/#enter\">The Giving Pledge&#8221; website<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span class=\"Apple-style-span\"><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Has the Buddhist revolution begun? This Wall Street Journal headline, &#8220;U. S. Superrich Vow to Share Wealth&#8221; gives hope that perhaps the revolution has begun. Buddhism doesn&#8217;t have a patent on generosity and none of these philanthropists has cited Buddhist reasons for doing so, but doing so certainly embraces the virtue of dana (generosity). Nevertheless,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awake-at-work","category-buddha-beat","category-spider-mind-world-of-interconnections"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Generosity as an Antidote to Greed: 40 Billionaires Donate Half Their Wealth - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Generosity as an Antidote to Greed: 40 Billionaires Donate Half Their Wealth - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Has the Buddhist revolution begun? This Wall Street Journal headline, &#8220;U. S. Superrich Vow to Share Wealth&#8221; gives hope that perhaps the revolution has begun. Buddhism doesn&#8217;t have a patent on generosity and none of these philanthropists has cited Buddhist reasons for doing so, but doing so certainly embraces the virtue of dana (generosity). Nevertheless,&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-07T08:54:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Arnie Kozak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Generosity as an Antidote to Greed: 40 Billionaires Donate Half Their Wealth - Mindfulness Matters","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Generosity as an Antidote to Greed: 40 Billionaires Donate Half Their Wealth - Mindfulness Matters","og_description":"Has the Buddhist revolution begun? This Wall Street Journal headline, &#8220;U. S. Superrich Vow to Share Wealth&#8221; gives hope that perhaps the revolution has begun. Buddhism doesn&#8217;t have a patent on generosity and none of these philanthropists has cited Buddhist reasons for doing so, but doing so certainly embraces the virtue of dana (generosity). Nevertheless,&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html","og_site_name":"Mindfulness Matters","article_published_time":"2010-08-07T08:54:12+00:00","author":"Dr. Arnie Kozak","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html","name":"Generosity as an Antidote to Greed: 40 Billionaires Donate Half Their Wealth - Mindfulness Matters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-07T08:54:12+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-07T08:54:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/5f92cf2ae15fbe04e74ca47527ac68d8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/generosity-as-an-antidote-to-greed-worlds-billionaires-donate-half-their-wealth.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Generosity as an Antidote to Greed: 40 Billionaires Donate Half Their Wealth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/","name":"Mindfulness Matters","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Arnie Kozak","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/5f92cf2ae15fbe04e74ca47527ac68d8","name":"Dr. Arnie Kozak","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6ab\/6abd6f3205265768510a13d66ac2aff7x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6ab\/6abd6f3205265768510a13d66ac2aff7x96.jpg","caption":"Dr. Arnie Kozak"},"description":"Recognized as an innovator in the field of mindfulness-based psychology, Dr. Arnie Kozak is northern New England's leading expert in the field. Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}