Blessing Fifteen:
Generosity
Generosity
C. HOW TO CULTIVATE GENEROSITY
Here is some practical advice for cultivating generosity in a way that fulfils all the requisite components. One should practice generosity according to the following steps:
C.1 Make an intention
Purify your intention by recollecting the virtues of the Triple Gem and the power of generosity to banish stinginess from the mind — filling your mind with faith and the joy of the act of generosity you plan to do. Once you have made your intention, make sure you fulfill it because according to the Vaṇijja Sutta (A.ii.81), the Buddha taught that if someone has made a promise to offer a certain amount of requisites to a monk or someone who keeps the Precepts, or to parents who are virtuous, but when it comes to the appointed time:
• do not come up with the goods, then in business they will always lose money;
• come up with less goods than they said they would then they will always receive less than the anticipated profit;
• come up with the goods, no more, no less than they promised, they will always receive the anticipated profit;
• come up with goods exceeding the promised amount then they will always receive more than the anticipated profit.
C.2 Seek out an appropriate gift:
Seek out or buy an appropriate and wholesome gift by your honest efforts. Some people expect to find joy in giving to something else something they have obtained in a dishonest way — such as picking daffodils in a public park to offer on a Buddhist shrine. However in his teaching on the Ten Ways of Consuming Sense Pleasure [kāmabhogī] (A.v.176) the Buddha taught that there is no joy to be had in the giving of gifts obtained in dishonest or partially dishonest ways.
C.2.1 The Quality of the Gift
The Buddha enumerated three different attitudes to the quality of the gift chosen for an act of generosity:
1. Giving things of worse quality than you would use yourself [dānadāsa]: This sort of giving which literally means “giving as a slave” happens when one gives a gift of worse quality than one would consider using oneself. An example of this would be selecting the smallest or most unattractive of three mangos to give to someone else. It is termed “giving as a slave” because at the time of giving, one’s mind is still the slave of stinginess. Such giving is characterized by acts of generosity to those we consider worse-off than ourselves (c.f. earlier comments @B.1 about the Christian definition of charity).
2. Giving things of equal quality that you would use yourself [dānasahāya]: This sort of giving which literally means “giving as a friend” happens when one gives a gift of quality equal to that one would consider using oneself. An example of this would be selecting any of three mangos you would be happy to eat yourself to give to someone else. Such giving is characterized by acts of generosity to those we consider equal to ourselves — such as friends.
3. Giving things of better quality than you would use yourself [dānasāmī]: This sort of giving which literally means “giving as a boss” happens when one gives a gift of better quality than one would consider using oneself — choosing only the best to give to someone else. It is termed “giving as a boss” because at the time of giving, one’s mind has stinginess under control. In general, Buddhists cultivating generosity try to make sure that their giving falls into this last category. When giving rice to the monks on their alms round, they will select the tender rice from the mouth of the rice-pot to give to the monks — before taking their own meal from the remainder of the pot. When offering food to the monks, supporters will offer delicacies they might never consider themselves worthy of eating — and when offering food, they might decorate and garnish the food with special attention. In fact, when we give to others we should always try to give things of a quality we would like to be give ourselves, no matter whether the recipient is of lower, equal or higher social status than ourselves. Such giving is especially characterized by acts of generosity to those we respect or to whom we have a debt of gratitude such as our parents, teachers or teaching monks.
C.2.2 The Nature of the Gift
Here are some “do’s” and “don’ts” to help you with your choice — in general things which are worthy of giving are the four basic requisites: clothing, food, shelter and medicine. You have to be careful, however, because some forms of clothing are not suitable. These four are sometimes subdivided further into ten:
1. food (but not aphrodisiacs);
2. drinks (but not alcohol);
3. cloth or clothing (but not immodest clothes);
4. vehicles, shoes or fares for travelling;
5. flowers;
6. candles, incense;
7. rubbing creams;
8. bed clothes & beds;
9. shelter;
10. fuel.
As for objects not suitable for giving:
1. Alcohol for the purpose of drinking (rather than rubbing alcohol or alcohol for cleaning). Alcohol is the component of some medicines. This usage is good — but don’t use this as an excuse to give alcohol with a little bit of medicine instead of giving medicine with a little bit of alcohol;
2. To give shows, entertainment;
3. To give a female animal to a male animal or vice-versa;
4. To offer matchmaking services to find a partner for others;
5. To give someone else erotic pictures or even a picture of yourself (so that they think of us);
6. To give weapons (especially when two people are in the middle of a fight);
7. To give poisons or drugs.
In addition the gift should be made clean, refined and attractive to receive. At the time of giving you should do your best to relinquish your attraction for the appearance, sound, smell, taste, texture or mood of that object (The meditation master Luang Phaw Wat Paknam suggested to bring you mind to a standstill at the centre of your body as a practical way of achieving this).
C.3 Make yourself pure before giving your gift
Purify yourself before giving the gift by taking the Five or Eight Precepts. Meditate to purify the mind, thinking of the recipient as if they were as pure as an arahant, or as a representative perpetuating the teaching of the Lord Buddha.
C.4 Make a resolution
It is customary to raise the gift one intends to offer to one’s forehead while making the resolution. Making a wish or resolution is like setting up a long-term plan for yourself. If a government takes care of a country it must have a long-term plan. Even merchants have plans for what they will be doing in the years to come. In Buddhism we have merit as our budget and we have our resolution or ambition as our long term plan for doing good deeds over the course of the lifetimes to come. If we have made a resolution at the time we make a merit of some sort then when the merit gives its fruit it will give its fruit in the way we have made the wish. However we must also be careful about the thing which we wish for — supposing we make a resolution but our mind is still under the influence of defilements then it might be disastrous because we leave ourselves wide open to the working of evil. If we make a resolution about something skilful, by contrast then the merit will give its full fruit, shortening our path to Nirvana. An example of a skilful way of making a resolution is:
“Through the power of this good deed, from this day forth may my mind never fall under the influence of greed or stinginess again and may I never be born in a family with stingy or greedy people ever again and may I never be born in a country where there is a shortage of basic needs for survival, and even when it comes to studying the Dhamma, may I never be stuck with a teacher of the Dhamma who is stingy with his teachings and wants to keep his knowledge to himself. May I never know shortage of anything skillful. May I always be well provided-for . . . and may the power of this generous deed help me to enter upon Nirvana [nibbāna paccayo hotu].”
Or more briefly according to the traditional Pali:
“Sudinnaṃ vata me dānaṃ āsavakkhayā vahaṃ hotu” (May these alms that I have given on this day be for an end of all defilements.)
C.5 Harbour no regret in mind:
Having offered the gift, make sure the gift is gone from your mind too by thinking only of the joy of giving and not allowing any feeling of regret to enter your mind. It is also customary to transfer the merit of one's generosity [pattidānamaya] by making the intention that the merit of our good deeds might also benefit our deceased relatives wherever they might find themselves reborn — in accordance with the Pali verses:
“Idaṃ ñātīnaṃ hotu, sukhitā hontu ñātayo” (May this merit accrue to all my [deceased] relatives. May all my [deceased] relatives be happy).
C.6 Summary: Four ‘Pures’
In conclusion, there are four things that will ensure that the giving we do will bring the maximum of merit:
1. Pure Gift. The thing which we give must be something we have come by in an honest way or bought with money that is honestly earned;
2. Pure Intention. A pure intention for giving means the intention to reduce the stinginess in your mind, or to reduce the number of defilements in the mind or cultivate your Perfection of Generosity or Loving Kindness. The Buddha also taught that if you want to gain the maximum of merit from a gift you must maintain the quality of the mind during three periods of time. Intentions which are not pure are giving with the wish for something in return e.g. giving for one-upmanship, giving to make yourself famous or giving to make someone else love us:
1) before giving [pubbecetanā]: make sure that you come to the act of giving wholeheartedly
2) during the act of giving [muñcanacetanā]: give with respect and a mind full of faith and without any trace of irritability
3) after giving [aparāparacetanā]: make sure that the mind is still joyous not regretting what you have given away. Some people go home and sit thinking, “Maybe I gave too much. Maybe I should ask the monk for some of it back!”
3. Pure Recipient: The more pure the person receiving our gift, the more merit we will accrue. If the recipient is a layperson, they should be a layperson who keeps the Precepts. If they are a monk, they should be a monk who keeps the Vinaya, not just someone who is masquerading as a monk. If the monk is an arahant (i.e. has no further defilements) then he will be a supreme field of merit.
4. Pure Giver: Even you as the giver must be keeping the Precepts. If you think of yourself as a receptacle for merit in the same way as a bowl might contain water, then you mustn’t be like a leaking or dirty container (Precepts incomplete) or else your merit will leak away or be sullied.
Nowadays, it is hard for us to earn enough money to both feed ourselves and to offer as donations — therefore when we do come to have the opportunity to give donations, make sure that you possess all four of the factors mentioned above.
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