c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) A few weeks after losing her husband at the World Trade Center in 2001, Holly Ann Miller was wandering among charity booths at Pier 94 in Manhattan when one of several traditionally dressed Buddhist women from Sri Lanka touched her shoulder, looked into her eyes and dropped an envelope in her bag.

Hours later, Miller opened it to find a handwritten check for $1,000.

It was one of at least 500 that the Sri Lankan Buddhists gave to Sept. 11 families at that time, according to the World Trade Center United Family Group, a network of families affected by the terrorist attacks.

When Miller learned this week (Jan. 3-7) that those same Buddhists are now raising money for their tsunami-devastated homeland, she joined dozens of other Sept. 11 families in donating through the American Sri Lanka Buddhist Association.

In giving back to the Sri Lankans who helped them three years ago, Sept. 11 families of varied religious backgrounds are providing a quintessential lesson in how the Buddhist notion of karma works. In short: Those who are generous will see generosity returned in time of need.

“It would be unforgivable not to give back to them,” Miller said via telephone from her new home in Montana.

The need now reminded her of her own need back then.

“Their eyes said they cared. For me to know people, even strangers, cared was the thing that made me feel most comforted at that time when we were in a fog. … I can only imagine the fog they’re in now because the magnitude (of tsunami losses in Sri Lanka) is so much greater.”

In Sri Lanka alone, the death toll is approaching 30,000, which is 10 times the number lost on Sept. 11, 2001. Despite differences in scale, Sept. 11 families say they can relate as perhaps no one else can to the feelings of survivors holding out hope against the odds that missing loved ones might miraculously turn up at the seashore.

Mindful of such connections and grateful for generosity received three years ago, Sept. 11 families as of Jan. 5 had contributed about $20,000 toward the Buddhists’ efforts. More than 100 letters had arrived, many containing checks and handwritten notes. In light of such strong interest, the World Trade Center United Family Group has extended its campaign indefinitely beyond the initial cutoff of Jan. 10.

At the Staten Island Buddhist Vihara, space constraints caused by piles of boxes containing food, clothing and first aid kits this week forced monks to scale back regular prayer services to a minimum. Tight space, however, hasn’t cramped traditional Buddhist teaching there. Vihara member Premalal Ranasingag explains that donations made in 2001 carried no expectation of payback, because “if you expect something in return, that is no donation.” But the forthcoming gifts from Sept. 11 family members are nevertheless appreciated.

“What we think is we did good karma and the karma is coming back now,” Ranasingag said. “If I help you, or give you a hand somehow when you fall down, then when I see you, you’ll smile at me. You’re not going to frown at me. It’s one heart talking to another, you know?”

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Such teachings are normative in Sri Lanka, an island where seven out of every 10 of its 18 million citizens are Buddhists. Practitioners there routinely invoke cardinal virtues of giving, compassion and patience _ all indispensable in a time of recovery from natural disaster.

The Buddhist practice of dana, or giving, came through clearly for Sept. 11 family members back in 2001. Although charities were lining up at the time to distribute millions in donations, family members routinely found themselves awash in a sea of paperwork, followed by weeks or months of processing delays. Contrary to the bureaucratic norm, the Buddhists asked only for a half-page form and a copy of the death certificate before cutting a check. Family members rejoiced.

“They helped us immediately. I mean, the next day,” said Bill Doyle, who lost a son Sept. 11 and now coordinates an online network of families. “Everything was taking so long, but the Buddhists were there right away. It seems it’s time for us to help them out.”

What made the 2001 gifts even more special, family members said, was the fact that they came from people with limited resources both in Sri Lanka and the United States. Ninety percent of the Staten Island temple’s 2,000 members are either unskilled or underemployed, according to Ranasingag. Since most have immigrated in the past 15 years, he said, many work in delis, restaurants and gas stations while waiting for American credentials in the professions for which they trained in Sri Lanka.

Knowing that it was poor Sri Lankans who had funded his daughter’s check after she lost her husband on Sept. 11, Bruce Decell made sure not to overlook them as they dig out from the rubble.

“I really think the money we give back is something they need much more than we did,” Decell said. “It was a wonderful gesture (in 2001), but for them now, it’s more than a gesture. They need the money really bad.”

With two shipments of relief supplies leaving the temple this week, additional donations are apt to help create a fund for housing reconstruction, Ranasingag said. Builders can erect a home for just $3,000 in Sri Lanka, he said, which means amounts donated so far from Sept. 11 families could already put up six homes.

John Leinung of Brooklyn lost his stepson on Sept. 11 and didn’t hear about the Buddhist charity program until after the funds were used up. A Protestant, he said he donated to the Buddhists because he appreciates their teaching and figured the world could use a boost at a time like this.

“The Buddhists call it `karma,”’ Leinung said. “We say, `What goes around, comes around.’ Same basic idea.”

MO/PH END RNS