Pearl S. Buck was born on 26th June, 1892 into a Presbyterian family of missionaries, with a mission to serve humanity. After her birth, her father, Absalom Syndenstriker left for China with his wife, Carolina and five months old baby, Pearl to resume his missionary duties there. Pearl was, thus, introduced to the two polemically different worlds right from the cradle. She had to adapt herself to these two worlds. If America gave her birth, China shaped her personality. The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 left an indelible mark on the mind of the child Pearl, who could discern injustice on both sides. She never practiced the religion her father preached to the Chinese. She believed in the religion that enveloped the entire humanity and held that man doesn’t need God as much as He needs man. As such, her religion lay in her service to humanity, irrespective of race or religion. For her, all the religions are human ways of reaching the unknown, which requires man to surrender all prejudices. This amounts to theistic ‘Existentialism’, which respects human life with love and compassion. This attitude enabled her to treat all mankind alike, and to shoulder the responsibility for other ‘selves’ in the society, which she admits in her autobiographical novel, My Several Worlds.
Pearl’s novel, Letter from Peking (1958) echoes her creedless faith that made her put in selfless work. Her training helped her develop a ‘bifocal mind ’and her humanism made her use her pen as a sword against racial discrimination, and to establish universal brotherhood. Consequently, she held that democratic love for freedom is the birthright of every individual in the society. It was with this conviction that she returned to America when China became a Communist country.

Pearl Buck’s notion of a committed social worker is explicitly illustrated in her autobiography that the social worker must work like God, who pours down rain without expecting anything in return. She held that social work should then be done without any expectation or any attachment to the result. Pearl Buck, with all her selfless work directed towards alleviating the miseries of others, can be called a Karmayogi, as she was detached to any personal benefits from her work but attached to her overarching spiritual goals. Her selfless action, catholicity of outlook, and philosophy of action are fused in the portrayal of Ted ‘s character in the novel Come My Beloved (1953). Ted, the protagonist reads the scriptures of all religions to the villagers in order to restore their physical and spiritual well-being.

Pearl evinced an innate interest not only in literature but also in establishing an understanding and friendship between the East and West. As a student at Cornell University, she was awarded the first Prize for her essay on international understanding, which was an attempt to bridge the gulf between the East and West. It shaped her novel, East wind ,west wind as suggested by Richard Walsh, the Chairman of the John Day Publishing House, who remained a true friend to her through the thick and thin of her life, and thus brought about a turning point both in her career and in her personal life.

Pearl dedicated her effort, time and money in founding educational institutions and orphanages for the less fortunate. Her literary accomplishment which culminated in the Nobel Prize being awarded to her novel The Good Earth, provided the impetus for her social endeavors. She established Welcome Home, which extended succor and shelter to the homeless. She also founded institutions to promote understanding among the peoples of the West and East. Pearl’s interest in mitigating the miseries of others, and her deep sympathy for the children of mixed blood recognized her as a humanist, too. She exhorted the colored people to come out and fight for their rights, and convinced them by saying that no race is superior to the other, and that superiority comes only from personal achievements. If Welcome Home softened racial discrimination, the Pearl Buck Foundation provided home and education to the handicapped inspired by her personal experience of being the mother of a mentally retarded daughter. This act brought her an immense mental peace. She associated herself with the Mahathma Gandhi Foundation, as she admired the Mahatma for achieving the freedom of India through non-violent means. And so, she advised countries to learn lessons of peace from India. She tells us in her novel, For Spacious Skies (1966) that work was her life, and working for the uplift of the downtrodden became her avocation. When Pearl S. Buck passed away in 1973, an immutable mark was left on the entire civilization. She was a self-effacing human being who never expected material returns or glory for her selfless service to humanity. Pearl S. Buck was indeed a true Karma yogi in thought, word, and deed.

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