Di Febo, Aura - To Benefit Others Is To Benefit Yourself

 

 

This article draws from the welfare activities promoted by the lay Buddhist organization Risshō Kōseikai to investigate the relation between religious values and “value” as the worth of an action. In contrast with scholarly representations of religious values as an antithesis to instrumental actions, the article shows that Kōseikai members' engagement was rooted in the integration of self-benefit and altruism on both practical and normative levels; religious beliefs ascribed value to welfare activities by means of their incorporation in a universalized relationship of exchange with the cosmos.