Generosity

The Paramita of Dana

A wise woman who was travelling in the mountains once found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveller who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveller spotted the precious stone and asked her to give it to him. She did this without any hesitation. The traveller then left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the jewel was worth so much it would give him security for the rest of his life. But a few days later he came back and returned the stone to the woman. "I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable this jewel is. But I want to give it back to you in the hope that you will give me something even more precious. Please give me what it is that you have inside you that enabled you to give me the jewel so easily."

The essential point of generosity as part of the path is to give without expectation of getting anything in return - no material thing, no obligation, no status or good reputation. Otherwise, it's just a commercial transaction in which you are buying something. And some of the most important things in life cannot work transactionally like this (although I have met a few people who apparently have not realized this yet). Giving dharma is an example of something that cannot work transactionally. A teacher who is charging for it is probably not in possession of the real goods. And a student who pays for it, even the real goods, is probably going to misunderstand because payment introduces ideas of comparison, and demanding value received.

So, let your generous actions be completely free of payback or transactionalism in any form. Intentions matter a lot. Carefully observe your own inner intention during the act of giving to see if there is any expectation of payback. It can be quite subtle. Maybe you hope someone is watching?

Therefore, conduct a small experiment today the day to give to someone - but do it entirely secretly. They don't know what you've done. And you swear to never tell anyone about what you done (which can be quite small and still have to beneficial effects). Try it today! But pay attention. Notice precisely how it feels to give in absolute secrecy. And notice how it feels later, to know that no one else knows. And if that proves instructive, try it again next week to investigate whether the effects are repeatable and reliable. Become a scientist of your own good mental states. Pay attention to the relationship between intentions and the result effects on you. This secret generosity is just a technique to discover something interesting. See for yourself what it is.

Maybe conduct a small series of experiments to see how changes in generous acts can have different effects on you. What happens if:

• The recipient knows you are giving to them? A third-party person knows? No-one at all knows that you were generous?
• You give many small things, or just a few very large things? Does size matter?
• You give something to a “difficult” person  (you know, that guy at work)?

See what arises in zazen when you experiment with allowing different types of generosity into your life. Sometimes generosity repays with instant karma joy. And sometimes it experiences great reluctance. That reluctance or resistance is a great thing to sit with and hold in awareness. I'm always grateful to discover places where I am still attached like this. It gives me something to practice with. Sometimes it might reveal to you what lies underneath the resistance. "I don't give because I'm afraid I won't have enough left for me." "I don't give because that person is not sufficiently worthy of kindness." "I don't give because maybe I'm being scammed." All of these (and other types of resistance) are great areas to explore in your practice!