Begging & Dishwashing Buddhas

Ask your religious teacher why he or she is incapable of supporting him or herself with either A) abject begging on the street, or B) honest hard work, like any number of Buddhas who labor as dishwashers, seamstresses, laundry machine repairmen, etc.. You might find the twisted, evasive answers quite interesting! No true Dharma teacher ever charges anything for teaching Dharma, nor does any true teacher live off the hard work of students.

The Buddha nobly chose to become an abject beggar. Almost every day of his Enlightened life Gautama picked up a begging bowl and went from house to house with his head bowed, his bare feet covered with dust, to get the one meal per day he needed to sustain his body. He then returned to whatever nearby forest grove it was in which he lived and slept. There, he washed his feet, sat down on his mat, fixed his awareness mindfully, and taught the great Dharma to whoever cared to listen. Ask your so-called Enlightened teacher why in the world he or she cannot do the same!