Danaparamita: the Perfection of Generosity

Generosity arises with every movement of body, speech, and mind,
Thus, with each and every movement,
Feel the energy of generosity arise and allow it to constantly
Deepen.  

Dana means "generosity," and paramita means "perfection."  In Buddhism, "perfection" means to constantly engage in deepening a practice, in this case, to constantly deepen ones capacity to be more generous.  Danaparamita is the first of the Six Perfections.  Although all of the perfections work on each other, or perfect each other, they also go in order.  Generosity comes first because it awakens the heart and reduces the tendency to be selfish or self-focused, which is necessary to create the aspiration to pursue the following perfections.  For example, generosity comes before morality - the second perfection - because generosity awakens the desire to cultivate morality in the first place.  I see this all the time as a teacher: one of the best ways to support troubled youth is to give them some opportunity to be generous on a regular basis, such as finding volunteer work that is meaningful to them.  Once these youth are engaged in generosity, they develop a much deeper desire to become better people.  Generosity inspires us, connects us to others, and gives us the energy to further cultivate ourselves. 

To be selfish is to be less aware of others, which is a form of delusion that leads to greed.  Greed is one of the Three Poisons in Buddhism; the others are hate (or dislike/aversion) and delusion.  In greed, we pull things that we desire towards us and often cling to them in ways that produce suffering.  In aversion, we push things away, and in delusion, we are unaware of how these desires and dislikes harm us, of what their causes are, and of how to end them.  

These three poisons are addressed in the Second Noble Truth, which says that the great many forms of suffering that we experience arise from karma, which arises from our desires and aversions, which arise from delusion.  The great tree of suffering, with so many branches of jealousy, anxiety, anger, fear, etc arises from the deep roots of delusion.  The last perfection, wisdom, is the ultimate antidote to delusion, to digging these roots out and toppling the entire tree of suffering.  But generosity comes first, it is one of the best ways to begin the path towards wisdom.

I created the following points about danaparamita to support my contemplation practice.  I was inspired to do this while reading Dale Wrights book The Six Perfections.  Anything in quotes is directly from his book; the rest are my own reflections or my summarizations of his points.  They don't function as a text to read through, but are points for extended reflection.  I hope they can support you in deepening your own path. 

·      - Classical Buddhist scriptures often divide generosity into two types of giving: material things, and the dharma. 

·      - Giving the dharma: To give the dharma means to give either the Buddha's teachings, or to give an understanding of the true nature of reality and ones relation to it.  

    - Enacting the dharma: Giving the dharma means enacting the dharma.  All actions of body, speech and mind can enact the dharma.  Even when speaking directly about Buddhism, the important thing is to enact the dharma in the way we speak, in the way we are present with ourselves and others. 

    - Giving material things: We can give the gift of the dharma in the way we give material things. Giving material things with insight and love can open the heart of another.  A gift may only be material on the surface; the true gift is a dharma gate, an opportunity to enter more deeply into the dharma.  

·   - For example, when giving a gift out of love, love is the dharma gate, not the physical gift itself. 

·    - Monks do not have many material things to give, but visualize giving great wealth as a mental practice of offering abundance.  In visualization, the abundance we can offer is infinite.  Through visualizing giving far more than can possibly be given, we can cultivate generosity. 

·    - Visualizations of generosity create a heart that is ready to give; reflections on generosity generate the insight necessary to give well. 

·    - Visualize giving ones highest energy to the world at each moment: every breath, every flutter of the mind… a gift of loving energy; of energy devoted to the enlightenment of all the beings around you.

·    - When practice is difficult, visualize offering its fruits, even if in the distant future. 

·    - Visualize the gift of generosity to the self, and of the highest generosity to the self being the gift of enlightenment.   

·    - Restraint from bad habits is a great gift to oneself; in moments of suffering due to restraint, in moments of desire to fall back into a bad habit, visualize ones restraint as a form of great beauty and say, in this moment of suffering, I am being truly generous to myself and thus generous to all beings.  

·    - Practice such restraint - practice discipline - with warmth and love: strong yet soft. 

·    - Scriptures as meditation manuals and visualization texts: In reading scriptures, consider how they might function as meditation manuals rather than literal texts.  Then consider how the energy brought to text shapes the way we receive and interpret the text.  For example, this passage: A bodhisattva must cast away even his body, and he must renounce all that is necessary for life.  Just as many texts describe Buddhists offering celestial and kingly gifts, this is a visualization more than a literal practice.  However, visualization must be accompanied by appropriate energy.  If we visualize renunciation and feel cold and stoic, we are only feeling our immediate reaction to the words, not the intention of the text: the visualization only functions accompanied by warmth and serenity.  When considering passages as potential visualizations, bring awareness to the fact that our original reaction to the passage may bring the wrong energy to it, and consider what energy allows the visualization to support the goal of enlightenment.

·    - In summation: Approach scripture with these questions: How might this function as a visualization?  What energy would allow this visualization to facilitate enlightenment? 

·    - What is a dharma gift?  The gift of dharma is the gift of opening a moment for another being in which they can sense the full flowering of their life and the lives of others.  The dharma allows us to sense what it would be to live the most beautiful life possible and to understand the steps to take in moving towards that life.  In making gestures that create a space for a person to become receptive to the dharma, we give the dharma.  What allows a gesture to open a person up to the dharma is the attitude of the gesture.  And the mindfulness, the love, the insight that informs the gesture is itself the dharma.  The actual gift – the gesture – is not separable from the energy of the way it was given. 

·   -  Whenever actions of body, speech, and mind are opening doors for other beings to feel the full flowering of their life, dharma gifts are being given.  

·    - A bodhisattva gives simply because a need exists.  Needs exist at every moment.  The need of each moment is to be attentive to the moment and fully meet it.  As practice deepens we perceive and gain the capacity to meet increasingly subtle needs. 

·    - The love I would like to have with another: two people continuously learning to meet each other more subtly; supporting each other in meeting all being more subtly.  To meet with more subtlety is to meet with deeper love.

·    - Ownership: Giving is perfected when one overcomes a sense of ownership and no longer feels a sense of “mine”, a sense of having given something up, a sense of righteousness or pride for having let go of what was “theirs.”  This is true of physical possessions as well as of ideas that we might cling to or feel that we possess.   

·    - Wise judgment often calls for not-giving, which is giving of a different sort: stories of zen masters accosting students exemplify giving through not-giving.  To learn from these stories we should ask: “what is the gift here?”  A good teacher is always giving some sort of dharma gift, it is up to us to discover what it is, especially if our first reaction is negative.    

·    - The generosity of being approachable: Generosity is not always reaching out; it often entails allowing others to come to us.  Our physical and psychological presence, our speech and our silence, can allow others to feel at ease and approach us.  We do not create the conditions for others to approach by telling them that we are open and approachable.  The gift of approachability arises when our body, speech, and mind reveals selflessness and warmth and compassion for all beings.

·   -  Closeness towards all beings: We can give warmth even to those who treat us coldly.  We have the freedom to not have our actions be predetermined by those of others.  If others give us coldness, we can still give warmth.  This often requires visualization.   

·    - The generosity of criticism: We can criticize in a way that is clearly motivated by care, that is warm and insightful, that helps other beings feel seen.  Less mindful criticism may not be understood to be caring by the one we are criticizing, even if it is.  Thus the generosity of criticism depends of the energy we criticize with. 

·    - Being generous to oneself: Pursuing the dharma is the greatest possible gift to self and others.  Pursuing this great generosity necessitates refraining from giving lesser gifts… say, the gift of sleeping in versus the gift of sitting morning zazen.

·    - The difficulty of generosity: If not reciprocated, or done only out of a sense of obligation, generosity may feel like a burden, a fruitless expense of energy.  Treat such feelings with warmth and turn to the sangha for support.  

·    - Generosity and thankfulness: We can give only because we have been given infinite gifts, gifts that go beyond what we can possibly be aware of, gifts that have brought us to this current state of pursuing the dharma.  I am thankful for and recognize my dependence on the many unseen dharma gates that have been opened for me. 

·    - One person’s generosity or thankfulness opens the hearts of others to be generous and thankful.