Highland Mindfulness Group

The Practice of Generosity (Dana)

Dana is an ancient Pali word meaning generosity, giving or gift. It is directly related to the Latin word “donum” and through it to such English words as donor, donate and donation. Dana is intrinsic to the 2500-year-old Buddhist tradition. Going back to the days of the Buddha, the teachings were considered priceless and thus offered freely, as a form of dana. The early teachers received no payment for their instructions, and in turn the lay community saw to it through their voluntary generosity, their dana, that the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and medicine were provided for the teachers who in the early days were monks and nuns. Beyond this practical dimension, dana also plays a crucial role in the spiritual life of Buddhists. It is the first of the ten paramis, or qualities of character to be perfected in one’s life time or life times.

And when the Buddha gave a discourse to lay people, he would almost always begin with the importance and benefits of dana.

The act of giving itself is of immeasurable benefit to the giver ; for it opens up the heart, diminishes for a moment one’s self-absorption, and places value on the well-being of others. The simple gesture of offering a flower or a few hours of volunteer work, a kind thought or a simple meal is in fact a sincere form of practice. The size or value of the gift is of almost no importance – the act of giving itself generates a thought moment devoid of greed and full of loving-kindness.

In Asia this tradition has been kept alive by the lay community supporting the teachings by contributing to the monastic centers or giving food to the monastics as they walk from house to house on their daily round of gathering alms. Once a year there is also a formal giving of robes to the order.

Adapted from Nooder Poort – Zen Buddhist Centre