Search results for: "Generosity"

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  2. Switzerland Inside
     … The other three treasures are generosity, learning, and discernment. Generosity is the side of the mind that doesn’t just avoid doing harm but actually wants to do good, it wants to help. It’s based on the realization that some of the things you have are more than you need, and you can actually share them. This doesn’t refer only to material … 
  3. “May I Be Happy”
     … The first topic he mentions in connection with kamma is generosity. Generosity, he says, is something real. It’s a good thing to be generous. He even has you use it as a topic of focused contemplation. When things are going dry in your meditation and everything seems to come to a stop, remind yourself of the ways you’ve been generous in the … 
  4. A Happiness Without Boundaries
     … After all, when the Buddha would introduce the teaching on karma to people, he’d start out with generosity and gratitude, saying that generosity does have value. Gratitude is meaningful. And generosity has value because we’re not automatons. We do have the choice to give or not to give. We realize that there is more freedom in giving. If you just cave in … 
  5. The Buddha’s Basic Therapy
     … When the Buddha’s talking about generosity, he’s saying generosity is real: People give because they have the choice to give. This means it comes out of the goodness of their hearts. And generosity bears fruit. In other words, the goodness of your heart does bear fruit. Perhaps one of the reasons we’re so messed up in the West is because our … 
  6. Anumodana
     … There were a lot of people doing work of various kinds, practicing generosity. Even though it was as if a storm came whipping through the monastery and then left very quickly, still they left behind some good things. So we should try to cultivate an attitude of anumodana for what they’ve done, because this attitude opens the heart. We see other people doing … 
  7. Mental Experiments
     … It begins with generosity and virtue, because generosity and virtue help you gain a sense of self esteem. When you’re generous, you see the good that comes from being able to give things away. That, in and of itself, gives the mind a sense of wealth. Generosity is one of the forms of noble wealth. It gives the mind a sense of contentment … 
  8. Choices
     … Or even if he had it, but if he had had some good practice with generosity and virtue, he would have been able to withstand it, knowing that he had a good side to himself as well. This is why the Buddha teaches that a good foundation for meditation is generosity and virtue—and having a right view about your mind and the thoughts … 
  9. Technique & Attitude
     … It’s the same with the recollection of generosity and the recollection of virtue. You think about your own generosity, your own virtue, the times when you’ve given up things that you would really like but you realized that it would be better if you gave them to someone else—and you make that sacrifice. Or virtue: the times when you held to … 
  10. Training Heart & Mind
     … And at any rate, being reborn as a Brahmā is better than being reborn as a dog.” The reference there, of course, was to people who are really good at the concepts but don’t have virtue, don’t have generosity: They could very easily be reborn as dogs. It’s not the concepts that are going to help you understand. You have to … 
  11. Generosity of Spirit
     … It’s hard for them to take what other people have done to them with a measure of equanimity, with a measure of what I call generosity of spirit. After all, we’re living in a world where everybody is imperfect. We’d like to have perfection all around us, but you have to look inside. Are you perfect? Well, no. You’ve got … 
  12. Harmony Inside & Outside
     … Whatever needs to be done, whatever way you can develop generosity of heart, that’s a part of the practice. If you can’t be generous in little things like this, how are you going to give up your defilements? Those are much more tightly held in the mind. So generosity is a basis for the practice. In Thailand, when they each little kids … 
  13. A Gift of Well-Being
     … This is clearest in generosity. You have something and you see that someone else needs it. You realize that you can do without it. You’re happy to give it away. This applies not only to material things, but also to your knowledge, your time, your sense of fairness, your forgiveness. When you learn to develop generosity in these ways, both sides benefit. The … 
  14. Bless Yourself
     … Generosity is a way of showing your goodwill for others because it includes generosity not only with material things, but also with your forgiveness, with your knowledge, with your energy, with your time. This quality of generosity is so basic to the practice that when the Buddha was going to introduce the four noble truths to anybody, he’d start with generosity. As he … 
  15. Significance
     … You look at the different perfections, and generosity in particular: There are lots of different ways you can be generous. The Buddha placed no trstrictions on them, simply that you shouldn’t harm yourself or harm others in being generous. Think of the time when he was asked by King Pasenedi, “Where should a gift be given?”: The king— because he’d heard from … 
  16. The Buddha’s Shoulds
     … But once you appreciate the principle of generosity and see that it is really worthwhile, you’ve made the choice to get started on the path. As the Buddha said, it’s impossible for someone who is stingy to attain jhana, to attain any of the noble attainments. So you start with the principle that generosity is good and that your actions matter. When … 
  17. The Gift of Spiritual Materialism
     … As for the remaining three noble treasures, they’re learning, generosity, and discernment. Learning is your knowledge of the Dhamma. Here, too, you’re not the only one who benefits when you know the Dhamma. You can share it with others. At the very least, if you act in line with the Dhamma you’ve learned, other people will benefit. Generosity is the way … 
  18. Discernment All Along
     … What’s a good gift? Who’s a good person to give it to? What’s the right attitude to have as you’re giving the gift? That way, you can get the most out of it, and other people can get the most out of your generosity as well. In this way, you approach generosity as a skill. In fact, this is how … 
  19. Always Observe Your Mind
     … Similarly with generosity: There are different factors that go into determining how much you’re going to benefit from an act of generosity, but a huge factor is your motivation. In the beginning it seems a little bit like a Catch-22. The Buddha says that when you’re generous, you benefit in this lifetime and you benefit future lifetimes. But it turns out … 
  20. The Unity of the Path
     … That gives the practice an element of generosity. You’re not going to let yourself get slack, because you realize that other people’s happiness depends on your willingness to engage in deferred gratification and on completing the path. So you’re not going to go for the quick fix. You’re going to go for a means of happiness that may take longer … 
  21. The Good Side of Kamma
     … Starting with generosity: It’s because we have choices that generosity has meaning. If we didn’t have choices, if the world were just like a windup clock or windup toy, then people would be windup clocks and windup toys. If they gave something to you, it’d be like a windup toy carrying something over and plopping it down in front of you … 
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