Generosity

The Six Paramitas:
1. Generosity
2. Ethical self-discipline
3. Patience
4. Positive enthusiasm
5. Concentration
6. Wisdom

Generosity is the first of the six Paramitas. Paramita means ‘perfection’ or ‘Far reaching attitude’ in the sense of the perfection of an attitude as a quality of Bodhisattva. A Bodhisattva is one sincerely engaged in the wide path of the Mahayana who seeks enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. The perfection of these qualities marks the attainment of full enlightenment.

So generosity in the context of the Paramitas is not really talking about generous activity specifically, but rather a certain far reaching attitude (mental factor) that results in giving on many different levels. It is appropriate that generosity is listed first, because this is the quintessential attitude necessary to transform all kinds of negativity on the path. This results in giving what is worthwhile with non-attachment.

Those of us who aspire to Buddhahood are benefited greatly by practicing this great attitude of generosity. The motivation for giving is very important. Mostly we do not practice true generosity – we aren’t generous from a point of real openness – we expect to get something back – we would like to be appreciated or recognized for our activity, or we are giving just to pay others back – people have been so nice to us so we should really be grateful and give something in return. This does not quite get to the subtlety of a true attitude of generosity. Real generosity comes when we develop genuine compassion.

“When a person develops real compassion, he is uncertain whether he is being generous to others or to himself because compassion is environmental generosity, without direction, without “for me” and without “for them.” It is filled with joy, spontaneously existing joy, constant joy, in the sense of trust, in the sense that joy contains tremendous wealth, richness” (Cutting through Spiritual Materialism – Trungpa)

A feeling of wealth and richness is necessary for one to become generous. And I don’t mean wealth only in a material sense. Also included in wealth is the willingness to give one’s time to others and to share our understanding of the dharma. If we are miserly and stingy – we live in a state of poverty. Even those who we consider rich do not necessarily think of themselves that way. They are constantly looking over their shoulder with the suspicion that somebody is going to pull a fast one on them. They seek out more and more money so that they can feel solid and secure. This is actually an attitude of poverty and causes a lot of suffering for them and others.

Richness can be defined as “The quality or state of being fertile”. With this attitude one feels pregnant with potential to share and so any interaction we have with others produces benefit automatically. We can reach this richness only in terms of letting go of our desire to possess and add to our territory – of constantly solidifying our identity through revisiting our meager possessions and opinions.

“We could say that compassion is the ultimate attitude of wealth: an anti-poverty attitude, a war on want . . . a freer and more expansive way of relating to yourself and the world . . . It is the attitude that one has been born fundamentally rich rather than that one must become rich. Without this kind of confidence meditation cannot be transferred into action at all.” (Cutting through Spiritual Materialism – Trungpa)

In practicing in the Mahayana vehicle we bow three times saying

“I go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, until I achieve enlightenment. Through the virtues I collect through giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings.”

But how can we be of benefit to others if we regard things as “mine”? Anyone could threaten that. With possessiveness there is something that they could take away from us that we value very much. This is miserliness. It results in secretiveness and paranoia. Ultimately we are being covetousness of our self-identity. We don’t want to be exposed at all. But through practicing the transcendental quality of generosity we can start to unravel our ignorance and self-grasping at the ‘kitchen sink’ level. Generosity is revealed in the laboratory of personal interaction with the world.

The perfection of generosity is the magic gem to fulfill the hopes of the world,
The best tool with which to cut the knot of miserliness constricting the heart,
The bodhisattva practice giving birth to the unfailing powers of the spirit,
The foundation of beneficial reputation,
Knowing this, the wise rely upon the practice
Of dedicating their body, possessions, and merits.
(quoting The Third Dalai Lama in The Path to Enlightenment by HH The Dalai Lama)

In a way, generosity is the realization that we and all being already have everything we need. Our situation is originally abundant with grace and satisfaction but we have masked this reality with all kinds of self-grasping attitudes that are the source of all of our Samsaric suffering. We and all beings already have everything that we need so there is not really giving and receiving at all. I think this is the attitude of true generosity.

A Zen story:

A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to find there was nothing in it to steal. The Zen Master returned and found him. “You have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you should not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away. The Master sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, “I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”

This Zen master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut. When he saw the thief he did not react with anger and scream for the police, instead he used the opportunity to teach the man – offering willingly the clothes of his own back. But what of the moon? What could he mean by that? When we put down everything and operate in a mode constantly and spontaneously willing to help others through the giving of our material possessions and time then we realize that we have everything. We have the moon, the stars and the sky – the entire universe is already ours! So this poor fellow only got away with the clothes and will return to his poverty stricken attitude, missing everything that is already his – which he had from birth. Possessions of these things are not possible, so they can be said to be everyone’s. We already have everything we need. The Zen master understood this and so nothing was taken at all.

There is a another story that I heard somewhere, I don’t remember where now, about a Sikh child who received some candy for his birthday. His father asked the child to share the candy with his friends. The child protested saying, “NO! These are my candies!” The father said, “of course they are yours, how else could you give them away?” The child hearing this was delighted in being able to share.

Any possession can be viewed as an opportunity to benefit others. Someday someone will come along and will need something that we have – how wonderful it will be to provide it.

“Compassion as the key to the open way, the Mahayana, makes possible the transcendental actions of the bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva Path starts with generosity and openness – giving and openness – the surrendering process. Openness is not a matter of giving something to someone else, but it means giving up your demand and the basic criteria of demand. This is the Dana Paramita, the Paramita of generosity. It is learning to trust in the fact that you do not need to secure your ground, learning to trust in your fundamental richness, that you can afford to be open. This is the open way.” (Cutting through Spiritual Materialism – Trungpa)

Generosity can also be expressed as unlimited appreciation. This means that whatever comes is delightful and whatever goes is delightful. It is not a sacrifice for the Bodhisattva to give his own flesh to benefit others. There is a Jataka story – a story of a previous life of the Buddha Shakyamuni where he told of finding a starving tigress and her five cubs. He gladly and spontaneously gave his own body to these suffering beings. Later, after his enlightenment, the human reincarnatations of the cubs became the Buddha’s first five disciples. So generosity in this sense could be considered non-covetousness.

All of the Paramitas are so deep and subtle. We can remind ourselves of all of them constantly while we are doing our practice and our understanding will grow infinitely. Ultimately these are the aspects of the Buddha – of our own future Buddha – the Buddha that each of us will become. Practicing the Paramitas is a way of creating a bridge to true enlightenment. This practice is truly wonderful because while we benefit everyone we are deeply benefiting ourselves at the same time by planting meritorious seeds that will surely create a precious human rebirth – the most advantageous rebirth for attaining the goal of enlightenment for the benefit of others. Practicing Generosity in particular is wonderful because our entire world can benefit immediately.

I hope that I have done some justice to this vast topic. It is my sincere wish that everyone realize the incomparable benefit of practicing the Paramitas in general and Generosity specifically, that we all purify our minds of our old suffering ways, attain enlightenment as soon as possible and save all beings from suffering.