You do not have to be Buddhist to believe that doing something kind matters.

You don’t need to believe in karma, rebirth, sutras, chanting, or anything supernatural to recognize a fairly simple truth: the world gets a little better when people deliberately try to make it better.

That is one of the things I love about the Buddhist observance of Ullambana.

So, What Is Ullambana?

Ullambana is a Buddhist observance with particularly deep roots in Mahayana Buddhist traditions. It is associated with honoring parents, ancestors, and those who have died, as well as practicing generosity and making offerings or doing good deeds for the benefit of others.

One of the traditional stories behind Ullambana comes from the Ullambana Sutra. In the story, the Buddha’s disciple Maudgalyayana, known in Chinese Buddhism as Mulian, discovers that his deceased mother is suffering. He desperately wants to help her, but his individual efforts aren’t enough.

The Buddha instructs him to make offerings to the Buddhist monastic community. Through generosity, community, and accumulated wholesome actions, merit is dedicated to his mother.

Different Buddhist traditions understand and observe the story in different ways, but there is an idea within it that I think translates beautifully outside Buddhism:

When someone is suffering, do something good.

And don’t necessarily stop with the person directly in front of you.

Put something good into the world.

Feed someone. Give something away. Help a stranger. Support a community. Care for an animal. Visit someone who is lonely. Volunteer. Forgive somebody. Pick up trash.

Create a tiny ripple of less suffering.

Ullambana and Humanistic Buddhism

This is where Ullambana fits especially well with Humanistic Buddhism, the form of Buddhism that has become particularly meaningful to me.

Humanistic Buddhism emphasizes bringing Buddhist practice into ordinary human life. Buddhism isn’t something reserved for temples, meditation cushions, monks, nuns, or some distant future existence.

The practice happens here.

At work.

At home.

In the grocery store.

In your neighborhood.

In the way you speak to the exhausted cashier.

In whether you notice that your elderly neighbor hasn’t brought their trash can in.

In what you do when someone needs help and there is absolutely nothing in it for you.

Organizations within the Humanistic Buddhist tradition, such as Fo Guang Shan, place enormous emphasis on compassion, generosity, service, education, community involvement, and benefiting society.

Master Hsing Yun, the founder of Fo Guang Shan, summarized Humanistic Buddhist practice beautifully through the Three Acts of Goodness:

Do good deeds.
Speak good words.
Think good thoughts.

身做好事
口說好話
心存好心

That’s Buddhism you can actually take out of your pocket and use.

What If You’re Not Buddhist?

Then don’t be Buddhist.

Seriously.

You don’t need to adopt a religion to borrow an excellent idea from it.

Think of Ullambana as an invitation to deliberately designate a day for goodness.

Pick one day and say:

Today, I’m going to leave the world slightly better than I found it.

You don’t need incense. You don’t need an altar. You don’t need to know what karma means.

You can volunteer at an animal shelter.

Donate blood.

Spend two hours at a food bank.

Bring groceries to someone.

Clean up a park.

Donate clothes you aren’t wearing.

Buy somebody lunch.

And here’s the interesting part: helping other people isn’t only beneficial to the recipient.

Prosocial behavior, volunteering, social connection, and acts of kindness have been associated in psychological research with benefits to well-being, life satisfaction, social connectedness, and a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

That doesn’t mean kindness is a magical antidepressant.

It means humans appear to benefit from feeling connected to other humans and from knowing that our existence matters beyond the borders of our own little bubble.

Sometimes the person receiving something from your good deed isn’t the only person being fed.

“Okay, But Where Am I Supposed to Volunteer?”

Finding opportunities is much easier than people sometimes imagine.

Start with the extremely sophisticated research technique known as:

Google it. 😂

Search:

• “Volunteer opportunities near me”
• “Community service near me”
• “Food bank volunteer near me”
• “Animal shelter volunteers near me”
• “Homeless shelter volunteer opportunities near me”
• “Environmental cleanup volunteer near me”
• “Volunteer with seniors near me”
• “Youth mentoring volunteer near me”

You can also check websites such as VolunteerMatch, local United Way organizations, food banks, libraries, hospitals, hospice organizations, animal rescues, senior centers, parks departments, community gardens, schools, and local nonprofit organizations.

Facebook can actually be useful for something besides discovering that somebody you went to high school with has developed some very interesting opinions. Search for local community groups, mutual-aid organizations, neighborhood groups, nonprofit pages, and community events.

And don’t overlook religious organizations simply because you aren’t religious. Buddhist temples, churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith communities frequently organize food drives, community meals, disaster assistance, clothing donations, and other service projects that may welcome volunteers from outside their faith.

Just ask.

Good Deeds Don’t Have to Be Big

I think we sometimes make “doing good” unnecessarily intimidating.

We imagine volunteering means joining an organization, completing twelve forms, attending orientation, buying a matching T-shirt, and sacrificing every Saturday until 2047.

It doesn’t.

Ullambana can inspire a dedicated day of service, but Humanistic Buddhism also points toward something quieter:

Goodness can become a habit.

You can practice it in ridiculously ordinary ways.

Return someone’s shopping cart.

Let somebody merge.

Leave a positive review for an employee who treated you well.

Text someone who has been struggling.

Compliment someone without wanting anything from them.

Pick up litter when you see it.

Donate $5 to a food pantry.

Put menstrual products in a community donation box.

Bring food or coffee to a coworker having an awful day.

Give away something useful instead of throwing it away.

Leave a bigger tip when you’re able.

Offer to babysit for an overwhelmed parent.

Check on an elderly neighbor.

Donate books to a Little Free Library.

Carry dog or cat food to a local rescue.

Tell someone’s supervisor when an employee does an exceptional job.

Thank people.

Apologize when you’re wrong.

And perhaps one of the most underrated good deeds:

Don’t say the cruel thing just because you thought of it.

Congratulations. You have successfully practiced restraint. 😂

Speak Good Words

The second of the Three Acts of Goodness deserves special attention because it costs approximately zero dollars.

Speak good words.

That doesn’t mean toxic positivity.

Sometimes good words are:

“That wasn’t okay.”

Sometimes they’re:

“I believe you.”

Or:

“I was wrong.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you need help?”

“You did a really good job.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Humanistic Buddhism doesn’t require us to pretend everything is wonderful.

Compassion isn’t pretending suffering doesn’t exist.

It’s deciding that we don’t need to manufacture additional suffering unnecessarily.

Think Good Thoughts

This one might actually be the hardest.

“Think good thoughts” doesn’t mean policing every unpleasant thought that wanders through your brain.

Brains are weird.

Sometimes you’re meditating peacefully and your brain suddenly decides it would be an excellent time to replay something embarrassing you said in 2009.

Thanks, brain.

Instead, I think this practice can be approached as cultivating intention.

Can I become slightly less judgmental?

Can I assume good intent when there’s no evidence otherwise?

Can I notice when jealousy appears without feeding it?

Can I celebrate another person’s success?

Can I remember that the stranger irritating me has an entire complicated life that I know absolutely nothing about?

Good thoughts aren’t necessarily thoughts that arrive automatically.

Sometimes they’re the thoughts we deliberately choose to water.

One Day of Goodness

Ullambana has rich religious, cultural, and historical meanings that go far beyond “volunteer for a day.” For Buddhists, it can involve practices surrounding ancestors, filial gratitude, offerings, merit, compassion, and remembrance.

I don’t want to flatten all of that into a generic kindness holiday.

But I do think its spirit offers something valuable to everyone.

Imagine choosing one day each year and deliberately asking:

What can I do today that reduces suffering somewhere other than inside my own life?

And then imagine that day turning into a monthly habit.

Then a weekly one.

Eventually, maybe you stop needing a special day.

You notice the shopping cart.

You notice the lonely person.

You notice the trash.

You notice the exhausted coworker.

You notice the opportunity to be generous.

And you act.

That’s where I find Humanistic Buddhism especially beautiful.

Enlightenment doesn’t have to be somewhere far away.

Sometimes the practice is extraordinarily ordinary.

Do good deeds.
Speak good words.
Think good thoughts.

You don’t have to believe in Buddhism to try it.

You just have to live in a world that could use a little more kindness.