By Bhikkhu Visuddhacara
Contents
1. Dana
2. Volition
3. Belief in Kamma
4. Resolution
5. Sharing of Merits
6. The Receivers
7. The Gift
8. Veyyavacca
9. Result of Dana
10. Walking the whole Path
11. Sanghika Dana
"May the Dhamma last as long as
My sons and grandsons,
And the sun and the moon will be
And may the people follow the path of the Dhamma,
For if one follows the path, happiness in this
and in other world will be attained. "
- King Asoka -
1. DANA
DANA is a Pali word that can be translated as giving,
generosity, charity,
and liberality.
It occupies an important part in the Buddha's teaching, which is
often
formulated under three headings - dana, sila, bhavana (giving,
morality,
meditation or mental cultivation). That dana is one heading
underscores its
importance. Buddhists should take heed and cultivate a good spirit
of dana.
It is a first step towards eliminating the defilement of greed,
hatred and
delusion (lobka, dosa, moha), for every act of giving is an act
of
non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion. When you give you have
loving-kindness
(metta) and compassion (karuna) in your heart. So at that time
greed, hatred
or ill-will, and delusion would be absent.
"Giving" is a word that has very wide connotations. It does not
mean that
you give only to monks. It does not mean that you give only
expensive
things. And it does not mean that you give only material things
that cost
money.
For you can give many immaterial things which may count even
more than
material things. What I mean is that when we are kind to each
other, we are
giving kindness, gentleness, comfort, peace, happiness, etc. So we
can give
by being kind. For example, we can lend a sympathetic ear to a
troubled
person, listen to him (or her) with compassion and give him comfort
and
encouragement.
To the troubled person, your giving time to listen to him is
more important
than if he were to receive a material gift. So when we are living
in a
community, we should cultivate care and concern for each other,
reaching out
to help whenever we can. Then we give more kindness by speaking
gently,
soothingly, not harshly or angrily. This can bring much cheer to
people, as
the following poem shows:
Loving words will cost but little
Journeying up the hill of life
But they make the weak and weary
Stronger, braver for the strife
So, as up life's hill we journey
Let us scatter all the way
Kindly words, to be as sunshine
In the dark and cloudy day.
When we bring happiness into the lives of others, we are giving
in a very
meaningful way. In this context, giving would mean more than just
giving
material things. The attitude involved is also important.
For example, during the time of the Buddha, there was one,
Prince Payasi,
who established a charity for ascetics and Brahmins, wayfarers,
beggars and
the needy. And he gave such food as broken rice and sour gruel and
also
rough clothing. A young Brahmin called Uttara was put in charge of
the distribution.
One day Uttara made some uncomplimentary remarks about Prince
Payasi. The Prince called him up and asked: "But why did you say
such a thing? Friend Uttara, don't we who wish to gain merit expect
a reward for our charity?"
Uttara replied: "But Lord, the food you give-broken rice with
sour gruel-you
would not care to touch it with your foot, much less eat it! And
the rough
clothes - you would not care to set foot on them, much less wear
them!"
Prince Payasi then asked Uttara to arrange to supply better food
and
clothing, and the latter did so. When Prince Payasi died he was
reborn in an
empty mansion in a low heavenly realm. Uttara was reborn in a
higher
heavenly realm in the company of the 33 gods.
This was because Prince Payasi had established his charity
grudgingly, not
with his own hands, and without proper concern, like something
casually
tossed aside. But Uttara had given the charity ungrudgingly, with
his own
hands and with proper concern, not like something tossed aside.
This account from Payasi Sutta of Digha Nikaya shows the
importance of
having true care and concern. So when doing dana, we should take
care to
cultivate a heart of true loving-kindness and compassion. Buddhists
are
taught to offer food, robes, medicine and monastery buildings to
monks.
Monks are considered a field of merit and worthy of support.
It is understandable that Buddhists should give full support to
the Sangha,
for the monks are the ones who are in a position to study, practice
and
safeguard the Dhamma for the present and future generations.
Without the
Dhamma, Buddhism would be lost. The monks too keep 227 precepts,
which
restrain them from indulgence in sensual pleasures.
Lay Buddhists thus consider monks to be in a better position to
cultivate
mental purity. So monks generally receive good support from lay
Buddhists
and this is as it should be. But in the true spirit of dana,
Buddhists
should not confine their giving to monks only They should relate
well with
their fellow Buddhists, showing care and concern and sharing what
they can.
Whenever somebody is in trouble and needs help, they should
respond if they
are able to. Furthermore, they should extend the same
loving-kindness to
society at large, to people of all races and creeds. They can
donate
liberally according to their ability to hospitals, old folks'
homes,
handicapped institutions and all worthy causes. They can also get
together
and set up such institutions, Such a broad attitude will make
life
meaningful and rewarding.
2. VOLITION
In doing dana, such as offering of food to monks, the donor
should be happy
before, during and after the offering. This means that before the
offering,
during the preparatory stage, the donor should go about the
planning and
preparation happily.
He should realise and appreciate that what he is thinking,
planning and
doing is very commendable and wholesome. He should be glad on that
account.
Then when offering the food he should be happy, mindful and aware
of what he
is doing. He should not be absent-minded and think about other
things while
making the offering.
After the offering, whenever he recalls his good deed, he should
rejoice and
be glad. Some people may not have such an attitude. For example,
they may
have the intention to do dana but failed to carry it out. Or when
doing
dana, they may not be mindful and are thinking of something else.
And after
making the offering, some may even regret doing so. In this way,
the result
(vipaka) of the deed varies.
There are instances in the Buddhist text where a person who
regretted making
an offering to a monk, was later reborn with wealth which he,
however, was
unable to enjoy because of miserliness. So we should take care to
have
purity of mind before, during and after the deed.
3. BELIEF IN KAMMA
Furthermore, dana should be done with understanding of the law
of action and
result (kamma-vipaka). We understand that we are the owner of our
deeds.
Whatever we do will rebound back on us. Good will beget good, and
bad will
beget bad. Dana when done with the belief in the law of kamma is
accompanied
by wisdom.
So when we enjoy the results such as wealth in later or future
lives, it
will be accompanied by wisdom. Not understanding and believing in
the law of
kamma is a setback to the practice of meditation. Being strongly
attached to
wrong views, it will be difficult to make progress and attain
higher insight
knowledge and Nibbana.
To be continue in http://www.purifymind.com/Givings.htm