When you are practicing generosity, you should feel a little pinch when you give something away. That pinch is your stinginess protesting. If you give away your old, worn-out coat that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing, that is not generosity. There is no pinch. You are doing nothing to overcome your stinginess; you’re just cleaning out your closet and calling it something else. Giving away your coat might keep someone warm, but it does not address the problem we face as spiritual practitioners: to free ourselves from self-cherishing and self-grasping.
—Gelek Rinpoche

Buddhist teachings emphasize that the manner in which we give is as important as what we give—we should give with respect, with happiness, and with joy. When we are practicing generosity, and it does not bring happiness and joy, we should pay close attention to our motivations for giving, and perhaps even reevaluate whether to give at all.
—Gil Fronsdal

Greed is the salty water consumed by those who thirst for self-centered gratification. This kind of thirst can never be quenched and becomes the source of increasing torment.
—Matthieu Ricard

“You can measure the depth of a person’s awakening by how they serve others”
—Kobo Daishi (774–835 CE)

Shakyamuni Buddha and his monks and nuns based their survival—day-to-day food, clothing, and shelter—on the layperson’s giving practice, dana. Today in our Western Buddhist world, we give generously to our own places of practice. We help support the center or temple, the teacher, and the sangha, and in return we get retreats, scheduled meditation, teachings, and a Buddhist community. What we still don’t see is the Buddhist equivalent of Catholic Charities, Jewish Federation, and the American Friends Service Committee—organizations founded on Buddhist study and practice, relying on Buddhist constituencies to serve the unmet needs of individuals and communities around the world, whatever their race, color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. We haven’t yet established our own Buddhist Community Chest to encourage and oversee donations and become a visible Buddhist presence in the world of social action and philanthropy. Only a few private foundations hold this larger vision.

Regardless of our resources, I think our generosity should benefit ourselves and our family, our dharma center or temple, and the world. This will really expand our hearts and practice from self-concern to Self-concern, and serve all beings.
—Roshi Bernie Glassman

‘Generosity is revolutionary, counter-instinctual. Our survival instinct is to care only for ourselves and our loved ones. But we can transform our relationship to that survival instinct by constantly asking ourselves, “How can I use my life’s energy to benefit all living beings?”
—Noah Levine

• Login or register to post comments