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Why and where to Give?
Practice of cultivating generosity (Dāna) is an integral aspect of Buddhist practice. Giving with an open and generous heart allows the giver to practice renunciation and letting go of his/her attachment towards possessions, which facilitates the letting go of various ways the mind holds onto self-view. Moreover, generosity when cultivated frequently, with the knowledge that the gift would benefit the recipient, fills the mind with light, wholesome qualities.
One may practice generosity through acts of service, provision of the four requisites (robes, food, shelter and medicine) to the Saṅgha, or any kind gestures to other beings, etc.
When one gifts, the question of where the gift should be made comes to mind:
Near Sāvatthī. As he was sitting to one side, King Pasenadi Kosala said to the Blessed One: “Where, lord, should a gift be given?”
“Wherever the mind feels confidence, great king.”*
“But a gift given where, lord, bears great fruit?”
“This (question) is one thing, great king—‘Where should a gift be given?’—while this—‘A gift given where bears great fruit?’—is something else entirely. What is given to a virtuous person—rather than to an unvirtuous one—bears great fruit.
- Saṁyutta Nikāya | The Connected Collection SN 3.24
*The non-offense clauses to Nissaggīya Pācittiya 30 state that, when donors ask a monk where they should give an intended gift, he should say, “Give wherever your gift would be used, or would be well-cared for, or would last long, or wherever your mind feels confidence.” In other words, monks should not tell lay people where to give their donations.
According to the The Training Codes of Discipline (the Vinaya), the Saṅgha, or the community of monks referred to by the Buddha as the virtuous ones, depends solely on the support of well-wishing lay supporters for four basic requisites of robes, food, shelter and medicine.
In turn, having committed to fully practice the Dhamma-Vinaya with morality and virtue, the Saṅgha provides spiritual guidance to the lay community.
BENEFITS OF PRACTICING GIVING
Any act of giving is an opportunity for lay supporters to acquire merit and goodness that result from their kind intentions. The benefits of generosity are manifold and are described in detail throughout many parts of the Pāli Canon. One such example is:
Bhikkhus, there are these five benefits of giving. What five?
(1) One is dear and agreeable to many people.
(2) Good persons resort to one.
(3) One acquires a good reputation.
(4) One is not deficient in the layperson’s duties.
(5) With the breakup of the body, after death, one is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.
These are the five benefits in giving.
- Aṅguttara Nikāya | The Numerical Collection AN 5.35
Practice of cultivating generosity (Dāna) is an integral aspect of Buddhist practice. Giving with an open and generous heart allows the giver to practice renunciation and letting go of his/her attachment towards possessions, which facilitates the letting go of various ways the mind holds onto self-view. Moreover, generosity when cultivated frequently, with the knowledge that the gift would benefit the recipient, fills the mind with light, wholesome qualities.
One may practice generosity through acts of service, provision of the four requisites (robes, food, shelter and medicine) to the Saṅgha, or any kind gestures to other beings, etc.
When one gifts, the question of where the gift should be made comes to mind:
Near Sāvatthī. As he was sitting to one side, King Pasenadi Kosala said to the Blessed One: “Where, lord, should a gift be given?”
“Wherever the mind feels confidence, great king.”*
“But a gift given where, lord, bears great fruit?”
“This (question) is one thing, great king—‘Where should a gift be given?’—while this—‘A gift given where bears great fruit?’—is something else entirely. What is given to a virtuous person—rather than to an unvirtuous one—bears great fruit.
- Saṁyutta Nikāya | The Connected Collection SN 3.24
*The non-offense clauses to Nissaggīya Pācittiya 30 state that, when donors ask a monk where they should give an intended gift, he should say, “Give wherever your gift would be used, or would be well-cared for, or would last long, or wherever your mind feels confidence.” In other words, monks should not tell lay people where to give their donations.
According to the The Training Codes of Discipline (the Vinaya), the Saṅgha, or the community of monks referred to by the Buddha as the virtuous ones, depends solely on the support of well-wishing lay supporters for four basic requisites of robes, food, shelter and medicine.
In turn, having committed to fully practice the Dhamma-Vinaya with morality and virtue, the Saṅgha provides spiritual guidance to the lay community.
BENEFITS OF PRACTICING GIVING
Any act of giving is an opportunity for lay supporters to acquire merit and goodness that result from their kind intentions. The benefits of generosity are manifold and are described in detail throughout many parts of the Pāli Canon. One such example is:
Bhikkhus, there are these five benefits of giving. What five?
(1) One is dear and agreeable to many people.
(2) Good persons resort to one.
(3) One acquires a good reputation.
(4) One is not deficient in the layperson’s duties.
(5) With the breakup of the body, after death, one is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.
These are the five benefits in giving.
- Aṅguttara Nikāya | The Numerical Collection AN 5.35
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