Dana or giving is one of the most important parts in Buddha’s teaching
and people are practicing this Dana commonly in all Buddhist countries whether
they are understanding of the law of karma or not. And Dana has wider
definition. There are various kinds of things that a person can give such as
material things, food, shelter, clothing, medicine so on. The person can give
not only material things but also can offer the knowledge, skill, and effort
that can benefit others. One can give sympathetic ear to troubled person,
listen to him with compassion and gives comfort to him. People can also donate something from their
physical body such as blood, even kidney.
So there are many kinds of things
that one can give to others. Buddhist have a strong belief that whatever they
do will rebound back to them, if we do good things, good result will come to us
and if we do bad things, we will probably face bad consequence. In believing
so, lay Buddhist practice to have generous behavior in all aspects. Basically
practicing generosity is to experience happiness and joyful and also first step
to eliminate Loba, greed, Dosa, hatred, and Moha delusion most importantly that
your generous attitude release you from the pain of selfishness. The more
people have such generous mind, the more they have loving-kindness and compassion
to others. 
What is Dana
Giving is one of the mean teaching which plays an important
role in any religions that every religion practices with different ways and
different objects. Buddhist view on giving or generosity is an act to reduce
greed, hatred and delusion. These three poisons are an unwholesome mental state
which always disturb or hinders for the spiritual progress in Buddhism.
dāna:Giving, liberality; offering, alms. Specifically,
giving of any of the four requisites to the monastic order. More generally, the
inclination to give, without expecting any form of repayment from the
recipient.[1]
Different Buddhist scholars gave different wider connotations on Dana.
As Buddhist monks are not supposed to engage any business action or performing
for living, lay Buddhists support four requisites to the Buddhist monks in
order to practice Dhamma conveniently. By donating those basic necessary four
requisites such as food, robe, medicine and shelter, monks are able to give
more time on his practice meditation and study without worrying of any basic
necessary things. So that supporting of these four items to monks is important
in Buddhism which the Buddha allowed it. The most important is whatever we give
or offer to someone who really in need of it, we should offer without expecting
anything in return. Nowadays people gave something with expecting something in
return, expect reward, reputation and even expecting for the positions. The
donors should have good intention while they donate something to someone
.
Giving with goodwill
In doing meritorious deed, the most important thing is that the donor
should have right intention or volition in order to produce great merit. So
that the donor must have three types of volitions in donor’s heart and mind
which are before offering, during offering and after offering. Dana is exactly
like growing rice field which need a good rain at begging, in the middle and at
the end of raining season in order to produce good rice. So in doing Dana, the
three steps of volitions must be present to produce a great merit to givers.
According to Abhidhamma the three types of volitions are as follow.
Three types of volitional
charities
a.
Pubba cetana (prior volition)
b.
Munca
cetana (prevailing volition)
c.
Apara
cetana (past-charity volition)[2]
The first one Pubba cetana mean, the donor should plan and prepare
happily before. For instance, before offering food to the monk, at the
preparatory stage, the donor should arrange such as going to buy necessary
things and cook with happiness and joyful. Right intention or prior volition
have to appear in donor’s mind then prepare it happily, it is called pubba
cetana.
The second one Munca cetana is that during donation event, the donor
should be mindful and happy about what he or she is doing. The most important
thing is that donor should not have the attachment of the properties that he or
she donated, but renounce completely the items and be glad on it.
The third one Apara cetana means that after finished donation, the
donors must not be regret but should be happy whenever he or she recalled the
offering. After accomplishment of
meritorious deed, enjoy it, and later whenever recall, happy for the completion
of the deeds. When he recall his good deed and should consider as it is
important quality to be practiced by every Buddhists. So Dana should be done in
appreciation of the great qualities and virtues of the triple gem (Buddha,
Dhamma, Sangha).
According to Buddha’s teaching, the most important thing in giving is
to offer whatever he or she like without expecting anything in return. If the
giver expect something in return from his or her giving, it is not generosity
or charity but it is performing an act of bartering.
Danaparami
In the khuddaka nikaya, the Buddhavamsa lists ten perfections
(damaparami) in Theravada tradition and six perfections in Mahayana tradition.
The first one out of ten is Danaparami which is an important one among ten
perfections. Bodhisattva Sumedha practiced this dana life after life till he
attain fully enlighten one. The Buddha when he wanted to cultivate, develop all
great qualities, virtues, moral, precepts, started with this dana. So the
Buddha practices this dana in three ways.
1 dana parami
2 dana upaparami
3 dana paramita parami
The first one dana parami means that whatever one offer such as food,
clothing, shelter, medicine, land, money, and material things are called dana
parami that Bodhisattva practice life after life.
The second one is higher than the first one and it is not easy to
donate for everyone. dana upaparami which means that one can offer something
from his or her physical body. The Buddha as Bodhisattava life offer his eyes,
blood, heart or any organs from his body in order to restore of other patients
or to support who are suffering.
The third one is the highest one it is called dana
paramata parami. The meaning is higher sense and it is not easy to donate for
everyone. The person scarified the life to protect or to save for the well
beings of others. But the Budhisattva practice this dana in order to save
other’s live.
In the Dighajanu sutta of the Anguttara Nikaya, exposed a good
friendship which involved fours ways in order to have a good friendship.
Full of faith (saddha) full of
virtue (sila), full of charity (caga), full of wisdom (pañña). He acts in
accordance with the faith of the faithful, with the virtue of the virtuous,
with the charity of the charitable, with the wisdom of the wise. This is called
good friendship.[3]
In fact, giving is one of the four ways which gives a good friendship
and happiness. The one whatsoever rich or poor, educated or uneducated, high
class or low class associate with these four ways Saddha, Sila, Caga, and panna
can be called good friendship that maintained last long friendship between both
of them. And in Mangala sutta, there are 38 highest blessings in which the
fifteen one is about practice generosity and it is said that giving is a source
of happiness for both giver and receiver, so be generous in living that is the
highest blessing.
Nyanaponika Thera translated
Brahma vihara as the four sublime states mind which we can found at Brahama
vihara sutta of Anguttaranikaya.
Four
sublime states of mind have been taught by the Buddha:
·
Love
or Loving-kindness (metta)
·
Compassion
(karuna)
·
Sympathetic
Joy (mudita)
·
Equanimity
(upekkha)[4]
These four attitude describe the higher standard of human life and
each have loving kindness, compassion, sympathy and equanimity then which leads
to peaceful society. We should need to have these minds in order to build
harmonious and peaceful society. There is no anger, greed, jealousy, wrath but
loving kindness, compassion and sympathy.
One can develop these four sublime states of mind through generosity.
By giving or offering with faith to those who are in need of it, one can
develop their mind. Because generosity is the way to eliminate defilement of
greed, hatred and delusion but promote loving kindness, compassion and empathy.
So that basically people should have generous mind in order to develop loving
kindness and compassion. One can get the experience of great feeling or true
happiness by practical way rather than being theory.
Buddhist scholar Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote in his book regarding to Dana or
giving
Like all good deeds, an act of giving will bring us happiness in the
future, in the accordance with the kammic law of cause and effect taught by the
Buddha. Giving yields benefits in the present life and in live to come whether
or not we are aware of this fact, but when volition is accompanied by
understanding, we can greatly increase the merits earned by out gifts.[5]
The result of giving may come in the present life or next life but the
fact is that when giving is accomplished by right intention or cetana volition,
the giver will experience the joyful feeling, loving kindness, compassion and
sympathy and also which will increase till liberation of suffering life. And
giving to anyone who are in need is beneficial whether the receivers moral or
immoral. The donor will earn great merits. Even little giving will earn much
merit if the donor donate with goodwill. And such generosity brings one step
nearer to achieving of ten-perfection or paramita. If the one gives much of
worth material things with the impure mind, then the donor will gain less
merits because the giving has done with expecting something return and some
reputation.
The Buddha said that there are two kinds of people that are difficult
to find in this world, namely a bhikkhu among the mendicants (pravrajita) who
is definitely liberated (asamayavimukta), and a man among laity
(grhasthavadatavasana) who know how to practice pure dana.[6]
That is the fact that there are plenty of stones or rocks in the
mountain but precious stones like jades, ruby and emerald are very difficult to
find which exist in few places in the world. As the same way, there are many hundred
thousands of Buddhist monks who practice and teach the Dhamma in around the
world but we cannot find easily who attained Arhatship or higher state of mind.
Therefore the monk who fully liberated from Samsara are rare in this would.
Liberated monks are very difficult to find. Likewise there are 7 billions of
populations in this world, but few numbers of populations are generous, and
give others without expecting anything return.
On another
occasion, the Buddha spoke of five ways of giving badly, and five ways of
giving well. The five ways of giving badly are,
1. A person gives without
deference and respect,
2. Gives without thinking,
3. Gives not with his own
hands,
4. Gives leftovers from a
meal,
5. Gives holding no views as
to the future
The
five ways of giving well are,
1. A person gives in faith,
2. with deference and respect,
3. in time,
4. with unconstrained heart,
5. without hurt to self or
others.[7]
Give in faith is important to be great quality of merits; otherwise
the givers will gain less merits. When giving something to someone, a person
should not give as an act of his body alone but with his heart and mind as
well. Give in proper way and appropriately is important in Buddhism. These five
ways of proper giving and five ways of inappropriate that the givers should be
understand before they give to someone.
Basically Buddhist believes that if we give more in the present life
with good attention, the result is that we will get happy rebirth with good
condition in the next life either human realm or deity realm. In order to be a
good condition in the next life, only one way that can help which is to give
others with goodwill in the present life. Help poor people, build generous
behavior to support for those who are practicing Dhamma or who are trying to
promote Buddhism, because we cannot take the properties that belong to us into
next life. No matter how much we rich and how many properties we have, but we
cannot bring those all belongings into the next life, but we can take our
merits or meritorious deed to the next life which will bring good condition and
good life.
For a person giving, merit
increases. For one self-restraining, no animosity is amassed. One who is
skillful leaves evil behind and from the ending of passion, aversion, delusion
is totally unbound.[8]
Starting from practicing
giving, one can grow merits. Trying not to produce hostility can build up the
harmonious society. And the one who eliminate the defilement of greed, hatred
and delusion, one can attain Nibbana. The Buddha instructed his disciples to
give up negative thought and unwholesome acts but to cultivate and develop
positive attitude or wholesome acts.
In Samyutta nikaya, a god asked the Buddha concerning with giving then
the Buddha explained clearly about the true value of various kinds of gifts.
A
deva asked
A
giver of what is a giver of strength?
A
giver of what is a giver of beauty?
A
giver of what is a giver of ease?
A
giver of what is a giver of vision?
And
who is a giver of everything?
Being
asked, please explain this to me.
The
Buddha replied
A
giver of food is a giver of strength.
A
giver of cloths, a giver of beauty.
A
giver of a vehicle, a giver of ease.
A
giver of a lamp, a giver of vision.
And
the one who gives a residence, is the one who is a giver of everything.
But
the one who teaches the Dhamma is a giver of the deathless.[9]
We can understand that if we offer food to someone, we will
gain the strength as the receiver gets the strength after eating the food.
Nowadays, people measure the beauty with clothes. They think and create
different designs in order to show the beauty. So if we donate the clothes to
someone needy, we will get the result of beauty from the donation of clothes.
The lamp can change from darkness into bright. If we give the lamp to someone
who is really needy, same result rebound us as good vision. In the same way,
Dhamma guide us what is wrong and what is right. And the dhamma shows the path
to liberation. So if we teach or offer the Buddha’s Dhamma to someone, this is
the greatest gift that shows the right path leading to the liberation from
suffering. Dhamma is greatest gift of all of human being. Dhamma gift has a
great power to change life. When a person received Dhamma with pure mind, he
cannot fail to change. He will experience greater happiness, joy and peace in
his heart and mind. These are the reasons why the paragraph said the one who
give Dhamma is the giver of deathless. In this context, the gift of Dhamma is
the greatest gift of all and which is condition to attain higher state of mind
or to attain Nibbana.
Conclusion
We are on the journey
of Samsara, we born, aging and death. But the goal of Buddha’s teaching is to
free from suffering of the wheel of rebirth. Dana is a basic way which can
train the mind and heart gradually to less suffering to attain higher state of mind.
According to Buddha’s teaching, our actions or Karma will determine the realm
where we will born in the next life. If we have great merit that will take us
to higher realm, but our bad action will take us to low realm. Karmma will
produce it appropriate result. Avoiding the bad but practicing the good is the
heart of Buddhism. As dana is one of the
three headings in Buddha’s teaching (Dana, Sila, and Bhavana), we can eradicate
the defilement which is barrier on the way to Nibbana. It is exactly the same as we cannot pick up
the diamond in front of us if we do not have the hands; likewise we cannot get
great merits or good result if we give something without in faith or volition.
This is why, giving in faith and with heart is important to gain great merits.
It does not matter how small amount we give but it is matter to give with heart
full of faith. According to the Buddha’s teaching of Karmic law of cause and
effect, we reduce our attachment to the something and it makes gradually weaken
craving and giving will lead to happy future births and also giving have done
with wholesome volition will help us to develop morality Sila, concentration
Samadhi, and wisdom Panna.
[1]
A Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms, Accessed
December 17, 2013 http://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html
[2]
Janakabhivamsa, Ashin, Abhidhamma in Daily Life: The Principle of
Physical and Mental Process, (International
Theravada Missionary University, Yangon 1999), 48.
[3]
Narada There, Dighajanu (Vyagghapajja) sutta:Condition of Welfare. Accessed November 30, 2013 http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an08/an08.054.nara.html
[4]
Nyanaponika, Thera, The Four Sublime States: Contemplations on Love,
Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity. Nov 30, 2013 http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel006.html
[5]
Bhikkhu Bodhi, Dana: The Practice of Giving, (Kandy: Buddhist Publication
Society, 1990), 2.
[6]
Tadeusz, Skorupski, The Six Perfections, ( Tring UK:The Institute of
Buddhist Studies, 2002,
[7]
U Hla Maung, Great Gifts and Giving Well: The Buddha’s Teachings for Peace
on Earth, (Yangon:Panditarama Yeiktha, 1999),4.
[8]
Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Udana: Exclamations, 2012, 117
[9]
Thanissaro Bhkikhu, SN1.42: Kindada Sutta: A Giver of What, Accessed June 14,
2010 http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn01/sn01.042.than.html
1 comments:
Vandame bhantee
Thanks for the dmamma knowledge
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