Turn greed into giving.

[RedLantern]

If everyone could make good vows and positive wishes,they can then attain peaceful mind everyday.If there is a peaceful mind all the time,then one could experience a worry-free life. Where does worry come from?
A lot of worries ,such as greed,are self-created.Once there is greed,there is bound for discontentment.Life become dissatisfying.In order to attain a satisfying life,one must be contented with what one possesses.
It is possible to attain a more blissful life by changing one's mindset,and by turning demand into giving.
Giving is so easy that anybody can do it.As long as help is rendered to the needy,it is a form of "giving" as everyone has the ability to share and give.
Therefore giving and sharing should be on our wish-list.

[eyesoftara]

If making good vows and positive wishes is enough then many more already attain liberations. Many practitioners took vows and make positive wishes everyday and do not have much progress. Hence, we cannot be so general. Vows are the basis of accumulating merits and if made with supreme motivation will lead to vast amount of merits. But it is necessary realized the wishes by way of actions as only selfless good actions lead to merits.

[yontenjamyang]

I agree with eyesoftara. It is necessary to apply the Dharma continuously. The path is always about transforming the mind from a egoistic self centred one to a more selfish one step by step all the while apply the Dharma. Each act of giving for example  cause a certain amount and mix of pain and joy. Initially more pain than joy and gradually with steadfastness this mix of pain and joy will change to total happiness. For this to happen, one need faith in the Dharma and in the Guru and of course the Sangha.

My point? It is a continual process. Like healing a serious disease. It is done over time. Hence, the Gurus prescribe the accumulations of merit and wisdom and purification practices.

[vajrastorm]

Greed for objects, people and close-relationships stems from being self-centric and selfish, being dissatisfied with what we already have and always  thinking we do not have enough. 'Giving' develops into a Perfection  as we grow more selfless or less self-absorbed, less attached to objects,people and relationships, and more easily contented with what we already have.

Yes, transforming greed and miserliness into 'generosity' and 'giving' involves knowing and understanding the Dharma and practicing it. The first level of understanding Dharma is the understanding that what goes out from us comes back to us(the Law of Cause and Effect or Karma). If we are greedy,and thinking of ourselves more than others, we will have no one being kind and giving towards us in the end. The more we give the more we get. If we live to benefit others and not to amass wealth and everything for ourselves, then , in the end, the positive effect - accumulating merits that translate into happiness and positive experiences for us - will come back to us.

Giving is a beautiful virtue which culminates in the ability of giving ourselves, selflessly to benefit others, like Lord Buddha giving his body and flesh to the mother tiger and cubs because they had no other form or source of food(and to prevent the mother from eating her young and committing a great transgression which would have translated into more untold suffering for her).

'Giving' is not all about giving  money or material things. We can give our time and energy to help others out or to do Dharma work.The highest 'giving' is 'giving of the Dharma'.

[hope rainbow]

'Giving' is not all about giving  money or material things. We can give our time and energy to help others out or to do Dharma work.The highest 'giving' is 'giving of the Dharma'.

I heard a lama explaining what was that the karmic cause for "stress", for feeling that we don't have enough time in a day to accomplish everything we are supposed to do, for feeling "overwhelmed" with too many things to do and think about and then experience STRESS.

The karmic cause would be that we do not take time to give others, that our preferred reply to requests for help or simply time is "I AM TOO BUSY".
A friend wish to see us to discuss something and we do not make time for even a simple cup of tea, we make our schedule and our preoccupations more important. We are stingy with time.

The practice of giving is only a practice if we give what is dear to us.
If we are attached to money, the practice would be to give money.
If we are attached to time, if we never give time to others, then we should practice to give it.

It is not giving that is the practice, it is giving what we consider precious to us, giving for the welfare of others and without expectations.

[Midakpa]

Giving or "dana" is a virtue much extolled in Buddhism and freely practised among Buddhists. It is one of the ten meritorious deeds and is the 14th mangala (blessed acts). It is the 5th contemplation (caganussati) and the first of the ten perfections (paramita) leading to Buddhahood. The term "dana" is from the root "da" which means "generosity" or "giving". Thus the term denotes sharing of one's possessions with others in need.

Greed is a manifestation of "desire", one of the three poisons. Greed manifests itself in actions such as bribery and corruption among public servants and unethical practices among businessmen. These people, however, may, in their old age or out of remorse, start giving millions to charity. Of course it is not possible to cheat the law of karma. The merit of each case depends on the motivation. If the giving is motivated by name or fame,  there is very little merit. But if the motive is selfless, i.e. not bound by ego, then the action is extremely meritorious. So the act of giving can still be selfish if the motive is wrong. This type of giving will never take us out of samsara. Therefore, giving must be free of the eight worldly concerns.

[Midakpa]

According to the Buddha, "...those who stingily keep, lose; those who give, save." Commenting on the benefits of giving, the Buddha observed that it cleansed the heart of the stain of avarice, extended the hand in generosity and filled the head with rejoicing. A giver does not suffer from repentance. "He is like a man who plants a sapling securing its shade, flowers and fruits in the future."

Giving can be material (food, gifts, money, land, buildings), or mental and spiritual (service, time, care, love, attention). It is said that if the giving is motivated by the concern for fame and praise, the results will be in inverse proportion to the force of "ego" behind these motivations. Thus, dana can be graded as "low", "medium" or "superior" depending on the quality of the intention behind it. The results (merits) would vary in each case.

[Midakpa]

Giving helps the donor  to get rid of the greed in himself besides relieving him of extra wealth or possessions. True dana is the practice of giving without any thought of getting something in return.

The three aspects of giving are: the donor, the gift and the recipient. Dana is an act that benefits the giver as well as the recipient. The fruit of the dana is in proportion to the character of the recipient. It is good to give to a beggar, it is better to give to a virtuous person, better still to give to a monk and even better to give to a saint. But the best and richest fruit is from dana to a Buddha.

It is said: "To earn merit, give to the virtuous; to earn Nirvana, give without distinction." It is like sowing in a well-prepared ground and harvesting in abundance.

In giving, the goal of the donor is to get rid of ignorance in himself. Giving helps him to eliminate the roots of greed (lobha) in himself. But the donor must ensure that his donation comes from honest means or right livelihood. Examples of wrong livelihood are robbery, sale of arms, poisons, alcohol, meat, and slavery. If the gift or offering is acquired through dishonest means, the merit accrued from the dana will be little.

Having said that, it must be remembered that no one should be obstructed from giving a dana because that would deprive the recipient of the offering, the donor of merit and it would harm the karma of the intender. However little the merit, the donor nevertheless stands a chance of moving on to the path of a moral life. But he must be fully aware of his past immoral deeds and has a genuine intention to reform.

[metta girl]

The English word "greed" usually is defined as attempting to possess more than one needs or deserves, especially at the expense of others. We're taught from childhood that we shouldn't be greedy.
Greed is one of the Three Poisons that lead to evil (akusala) and that bind us to suffering (dukkha). It also is one of the Five Hindrances to enlightenment.
When giving, a person should not perform charity as an act of his body alone, but with his heart and mind as well. There must be joy in every act of giving. A distinction can be made between giving as a normal act of generosity and dana. In the normal act of generosity a person gives out of compassion and kindness when he realizes that someone else is in need of help, and he is in the position to offer the help. When a person performs dana, he gives as a means of cultivating charity as a virtue and of reducing his own selfishness and craving. He exercises wisdom when he recalls that dana is a very important quality to be practised by every Buddhist, and is the first perfection (paramita)practised by the Buddha in many of His previous births in search for Enlightenment. A person performs dana in appreciation of the great qualities and virtues of the Triple Gem

[Tenzin K]

Giving is essential to Buddhism. Giving includes charity, or giving material help to people in want. It also includes giving spiritual guidance to those who seek it and loving kindness to all who need it. However, one's motivation for giving to others is at least as important as what is given.

What is right or wrong motivation? In sutra 4:236 of the Anguttara Nikaya, a collection of texts in the Sutta-pitaka, lists a number of motivations for giving. These include being shamed or intimidated into giving; giving to receive a favor; giving to feel good about yourself. These are impure motivations.

The Buddha taught that when we give to others, we give without expectation of reward. We give without attaching to either the gift or the recipient. We practice giving to release greed and self-clinging.

Some teachers propose that giving is good because it accrues merit and creates karma that will bring future happiness. Others say that even this is self-clinging and an expectation of reward. In many schools, people are encouraged to dedicate merit to the liberation of others.

The greatest testimony to the Buddha's great compassion is His priceless gift to humanity?the Dhamma which can liberate all beings from suffering. To the Buddhist, the highest gift of all is the gift of Dhamma. This gift has great powers to change a life. When a person receives Dhamma with a pure mind and practices the Truth with earnestness, he cannot fail to change. He will experience greater happiness, peace and joy in his heart and mind. If he was once cruel, he becomes compassionate. If he was once revengeful, he becomes forgiving. Through Dhamma, the hateful becomes more compassionate, the greedy more generous, and the restless more serene. When a person has tasted Dhamma, not only will be experience happiness here and now, but also happiness in the lives hereafter as he journeys to Nibbana.