The art of Giving

[sonamdhargey]

Kindness has no boundaries. It should be free of any form of discrimination. Homeless are everywhere not just in 3rd world countries but also in developed countries.

Below is an article about an officer who bought shoes for a homeless.

After Officer Lawrence DePrimo knelt beside a barefoot man on a bitterly cold November night in Times Square, giving him a pair of boots, a photo of his random act of good will quickly took on a life of its own — becoming a symbol for a million acts of kindness that go unnoticed every day and a reminder that even in this tough, often anonymous city, people can still look out for one another.

Officer Lawrence DePrimo received widespread news coverage for his generosity, but little was known about the man he helped, Jeffrey Hillman.

Officer DePrimo was celebrated on front pages and morning talk shows, the Police Department came away with a burnished image and millions got a smile from a nice story.

Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/nyregion/barefoot-homeless-man-says-hes-grateful-for-boots.html?_r=1&

[bambi]

Yes, kindness is the way! Its really heart warming to read post like this. It brightens up my day and it makes me think of what I have done, not enough... Little kindness go a long way. I believe no matter how small the act of kindness, it can mean a lot to many people. With a pair of shoes, Mr Hillman got to walk comfortably although he kept it and went shoeless again. I have heard of the homeless being robbed and beaten up. How sad.. I started with 5 acts of kindness each day and it automatically grew from there. All of us can do it no matter how small...

[Midakpa]

The Buddha, in the Iti-vuttaka, mentioned two types of gifts. He said:

"There are these two sorts of gifts, brethren: the gift of material things and the gift of the Norm (the Dharma). Of these two gifts, the gift of the Norm is pre-eminent."

In the Samyutta Nikaya, it is said that the giver collects a lot of merits:

The mighty sea, unmeasured mighty lake,
The fearsome home of multitudes of pearls-
As rivers, serving countless hosts of men,
Flow widely forth and to that ocean come:-

Just so, on him giveth food, drink, clothes,
Who bed and seat and coverlet provides,
Torrents of merit flood that mortal wise,
As rivers, bearing water, reach the main.

[RedLantern]

Practicing the art of thoughtful giving fosters the spirit of generosity,which in turn brings out the sense of awareness in us.The 'Dharma"of our tradition incorporate gift giving as part of one's life.Prior to any important occasion-a wedding,the naming of a child or moving into a new house,gifts are given to one's relatives and others to convey our gratitude to the universe.
When we give something because we feel that we are giving would bring joy to the person receiving it,we are
in engagement with the other.The art of giving is truly wonderful,when practiced in the right spirit,will bring joy to all relationships.
"If living beings knew the fruit and final reward of generosity and the distribution of gifts...selfishness would not abide in their hearts"   Buddhist Avadana Jataka.

[Jessie Fong]

“For it is in giving that we receive.”
? St. Francis of Assisi



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There are homeless people on the streets in every country all over the world.  Most of them have taken to the streets due to many varied reasons but the fact remains that society still needs to help them out.

Many Soup Kitchens have sprung up worldwide to feed, clothe and care for these people, young and old. In cities where there are physical kitchens set up, a bowl of hot soup will be very welcome during the cold wintry nights.

[dondrup]

Giving is a virtuous mental decision to give, or a bodily or verbal action of giving that is motivated by a virtuous state of mind. There are four types of giving: giving material things, giving Dharma, giving love, and giving fearlessness.
 
The amount of merit we accumulate through the practice of giving depends upon many factors.  One important factor is the recipient to whom we make the gift. Amongst all the objects of giving, it is most meritorious to give to the Buddhas.  Other powerful objects of giving are our spiritual guides, our parents, and those who are in great need.  The strength of our virtuous motivation is another important factor in determining the merit of our actions of giving.  The best motivation is bodhichitta.
 
Giving material things is a virtuous thought to give our possessions, our enjoyments, or our body.
 
There are many ways to give Dharma. For example, we can whisper mantras into the ears of animals or dedicate our virtues so that all living beings may enjoy peace and happiness.
 
To give love by developing the thought “How wonderful it would be if all living beings could be happy.  May they be happy.  I will help them to become happy”   In short, we should try to cherish others and maintain affectionate love for all living beings.
 
To give fearlessness is to protect other living beings from fear or danger.

[Barzin]

To give is subjective.  It has a lot to do with your motivation.  To give 100% without agenda and naturally is very rare among the human kind.  It is an act of compassion and this is not easy to come by.

I remember one class that my dharma teacher asks us a question.  Let's say that you have save up for the longest time to get this present for your friend.  When you finally able to get it for him and presented him with the gift.  He said thankyou and immediately gave it away to the next person.  How would you feel?  Will you have even a slightest hurt in your chest because you spent so much effort into getting it and this is what you get in return or you are smiling but your head is spinning?

Once you give means you give, it is no longer ours.  It is focus more on what the other need rather than yourself, hence you give. With no expectation.  No motive, no agenda. 

[Midakpa]

In the Sutta Nipata, Maghasutta, the Buddha assures a young man that he collects merits through his generosity of giving alms. Here is the dialogue between them:

"Master Gotama, I am a giver of gifts, a lord of almsgiving: affable am I and a proper man to ask a boon of. I pursue wealth in a lawful way, and having done so I give freely of my wealth thus lawfully obtained, - I give alms to one, two, three, five, seven, ten, twenty, even up to a hundred, - nay to more than that. (Tell me this) Master Gotama, by so giving, by making such sacrifices, do I beget any merit?"

"Surely, young man, by giving, by making such sacrifices... you do beget much merit! He who pursues wealth in a lawful way, and having done so gives freely of his wealth thus lawfully obtained, - by so giving, by making such sacrifices, he begets much merit."

[Q]

I have read of this news before, and I found it most generous of this man for gifting a homeless something in time of need. Although the follow up new reports show that his act had in fact made a different impact on the homeless man, his intention to make the homeless man's life easier is one to give credit.

It is funny how some people, despite not having met the Dharma, is practicing the 6 paramitas of Buddhism. One of the 6 paramitas is to be generous, by giving without expecting anything in return. Officer Lawrence clearly showed how giving he is as he never expected anything in return of his kind action, and the public recognition came just by chance, not by expectation.

This shows to us that regardless of our believe, whether one is Buddhist or not, we all have an innate nature of kindness... we all have Buddha nature in us. Every time I read of stories such as this reaffirms to me that I need to study hard and gain much wisdom to advance in my spiritual practice. As we all have innate kindness in us, shows us that Buddhahood is closer to us than we actually think. Of course it is a long road even for the committed, but the glimmer of hope helps give me much conviction in my spiritual practice for I know, I will reach there one day.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful news about Officer Lawrence's kind nature. We should all practice this type of giving nature and nurture the generous self that we all embody... not just in giving materially, but in giving love, care, and protection to all those in need.

[buddhalovely]

The act of true giving is something wonderful and amazing. With most things in this world, there is only a limited amount of what you can give away. Fortunately, generosity and kindness are not bound to these same material limitations. One of life’s most basic laws is "every single act of love, kindness and generosity will multiply and return to you many times over ". The more you give the happier you will feel.Many thousands of years ago a great sage in Babylon said "The reward of charity depends entirely upon the extent of the kindness in it."It is one of life's wonderful paradoxes that you limit the power of your giving by having an expectation of getting something in return. When you give without any thought or desire for something back, your returns will be truly limitless.Your life is like a river of energy, continually flowing. What happens when a river stops moving? It get very muddy, and stagnant. A fast flowing river is full of life and clear water. Where would you rather drink?The acts of giving and receiving are a continuos process of circulation that continues the flow of your life’s energies. For one person to receive someone else has to give. It’s a cycle of energy that flows continually onwards.

True giving, without expectation of anything in return is as effortless as breathing.How often do you expect back from the person you gave something to a gift of a similar or greater value? Is this true giving or merely an unvoiced expectation of an exchange of similar goods?Have you ever heard anyone saying " I just give and give and give until I have nothing left "?This behaviour has many other names. Self denial, self pity, martyrdom, self righteousness to name just a few.This is an ego based form of giving. It is giving with an expectation of something in return. In reality, this is not giving at all but an unvocalised form of barter. If, through the act of giving, you feel that you have “lost something or are somehow lessened” then the gift was not truly given from your heart.

Truly giving something from the heart is an action which will fill your life with joy. This is where the expression to “give whole heartedly” comes from.

[psylotripitaka]

Understanding that giving produces realizations, we should delight in every opportunity to give even if it is only a prayer.

[apprenticehealer]

The Art of Giving is part of human nature.

Our mothers gave birth to us; our parents gave us love , support , care as well all the necessities that made us who we are; our teachers , gurus gave us teachings, guidance ; our friends gave us friendship; society gave us law and order ....

One can argue that all the above may come from duty rather than giving but i believe that we all have the nature of compassion in us and through compassion comes giving . An act of kindness generates many more acts of kindness and giving from the 'giver' and the 'receipient' - this one act usually 'opens ' one's heart and allows loving kindness and compassion to flow through.

There is a saying that when one gives unconditionally, one receives many folds in return. We give , not because we want something back, but to give with the motivation that the gift benefits someone else, to know that the gift has given relief (even for a brief moment of time)  from suffering, is in itself practicing the Dharma . And in many cases, the gift does not cost anything but just from the heart!

[Tenzin K]

I like the Buddhist principles of the 4 types of giving. It is an ideal that I think we would all benifit from applying. It talks about 4 levels of helping others.
 
First is to provide necessities. People can’t do spiritual practices if …they are starving and have to spend a large proportion of their time on survival. So the first step is to help provide the necessities of life to others. For me this involves not only “feeding the poor” but setting up laws and institutions to ease the burden of survival from others. In Canada we have a group called “Make Poverty History” which is working to that end.
 
The Second type of giving is to provide Confidence. This means to reinforce in others minds their own Buddha Nature and, if you break that down to something non-Buddhists can relate to by being specific about what Buddha nature means, then what we are trying to do with the second kind of giving is to remind people of their inherent knowledge and skill. This means their own capacity to know their situations and their problems and what solutions will work best. For me, this also means education – showing them that they can learn techniques that will help them work better within their situation.
 
Third is to provide Relative understanding – This is to understand interdependence, Action and Result – to teach others about the effects of their actions. Again, this needs to be done not just on “spiritual” levels, but on physical, and societal levels, on top of the emotional and moral levels.
 
The final type of giving is giving ultimate understanding – This can be interpreted many ways, but, if we interpret it in the widest possible way, it means promoting peace and joy and wisdom and compassion both internally and externally.
 
However – this teaching emphasizes that our work on the 4th type of giving will only be partial unless the other types of giving are satisfied first. – I think this is a principle that we should all try to follow.

[Positive Change]

For me on a visit to Thailand two years back, I came across the beauty of giving in its purest form. It is called Dana offering (giving alms) to the monks/sangha... I remember lining up on the street in the wee hours of dawn with food offerings for monks of all ages. It was truly an experience that was beyond words. It was humbling yet satisfying and emotional yet empowering!

WHAT IS DANA?
Dana is generosity or giving, a form of alms. In Hinduism and Buddhism, it is the practice of cultivating generosity. Ultimately, the practice culminates in one of the perfections (paramita): the perfection of giving - dana-paramita. This can be characterized by unattached and unconditional generosity, giving and letting go.

Dana as a formal religious act is directed specifically to a monastic or spiritually-developed person. In Buddhist thought, it has the effect of purifying and transforming the mind of the giver.

Generosity developed through giving leads to being reborn in happy states and the availability of material wealth.[2] Conversely, lack of giving leads to unhappy states and poverty.

Buddhists believe that giving without seeking anything in return leads to greater spiritual wealth. Moreover, it reduces the acquisitive impulses that ultimately lead to continued suffering from egoism.

TYPES OF DANA
1. Vidya Dana: Donating/Sharing Knowledge for education. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." In Christianity, it is also known as the Gift of Knowledge

2. Aushadha Dana: Charity of free medicine to the sick and diseased

3. Abhay Dana: Giving freedom from fear

4. Kanya Dana: Giving one's daughter's hand in marriage, where the Daughter goes to stay with her husband.

5. Bhu Dana: Donation of land

6. Anna Dana: Donating food to poor and needy, pilgrims, patients at hospitals, orphanages, old age homes etc.,

7. Go Dana: Donation of a Cow

[rossoneri]

If we do offering food for others below are some point of motivations which could be useful:

THE FOOD OFFERING PRACTICE MOTIVATION

“The purpose of my life is to free all living beings from all suffering and its cause and lead them to full enlightenment.

“There are numberless hell beings from whom I receive all my past, present and future happiness, all realizations and enlightenment. They are the kindest, most precious beings in my life. Therefore, I must liberate them from all suffering and its cause and lead them to enlightenment by myself, alone.

“There are numberless hungry ghosts from whom I receive all my past, present and future happiness, all realizations and enlightenment. They are the kindest, most precious beings in my life. Therefore, I must liberate them from all suffering and its cause and lead them to enlightenment by myself, alone.

“There are numberless animals from whom I receive all my past, present and future happiness, all realizations and enlightenment. They are the kindest, most precious beings in my life. Therefore, I must liberate them from all suffering and its cause and lead them to enlightenment by myself, alone.

“There are numberless human beings from whom I receive all my past, present and future happiness, all realizations and enlightenment. They are the kindest, most precious beings in my life. Therefore, I must liberate them from all suffering and its cause and lead them to enlightenment by myself, alone.

“There are numberless sura beings from whom I receive all my past, present and future happiness, all realizations and enlightenment. They are the kindest, most precious beings in my life. Therefore, I must liberate them from all suffering and its cause and lead them to enlightenment by myself, alone.

“There are numberless asura beings from whom I receive all my past, present and future happiness, all realizations and enlightenment. They are the kindest, most precious beings in my life. Therefore, I must liberate them from all suffering and its cause and lead them to enlightenment by myself, alone.

“There are numberless intermediate state beings from whom I receive all my past, present and future happiness, all realizations and enlightenment. They are the kindest, most precious beings in my life. Therefore, I must liberate them from all suffering and its cause and lead them to enlightenment by myself, alone.

“In order to do all this, I must first achieve full enlightenment myself. Therefore, I am going to practice the yoga of eating and make charity to all sentient beings, including those who live in my body, and, through the connection with all sentient beings I have created by making food charity to them at this time, bring them to full enlightenment by teaching them Dharma when they become human.”