The eighth precept: Not begrudging the Dharma or material things
from Hoko
The last three precepts are about the three poisonous minds of greed, anger and ignorance.
In the Buddhist tradition, there are three kinds of things we can give:
The clear mind version of this precept is : Sharing understanding and freely giving of self. This is what a bodhisattva does to save all beings. It doesn’t mean to evangelize or force practice on others; it does mean to take the time with newbies, not to exclude them, to have patience, all without our own egos getting in the way.
Freely giving of self is generosity. When we think of generosity, we think about giving something to someone else, maybe money or things. Someone who is generous puts the needs or desires of others ahead of his attachment to his possessions, but there’s a lot more going on here: we also have to understand how generosity arises. Dana was a part of society in ancient India before Buddha. It generally had to do with charity, either to the poor directly or by building public projects that benefitted everyone. One of the earliest Hindu texts says, “Giving to the poor is true charity; all other giving expects some return.” This is a very old teaching.
Of course, it’s good to help others who need our help and try to ease their suffering. Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, lending your book to a classmate who’s left hers at home -- these are the daily physical acts of generosity that we do. However, in the larger, absolute view, there is no giving and receiving. It feels like I have some object and I can give it to you if you need it, but actually in this one unified reality there is no separation between giver, receiver and gift. There’s nothing I can grasp and own, because I’m just a temporary caretaker for “my” stuff. It's not possible for me to lose anything by offering it to you.
In the Bodaisatta Shishobo, Dogen says: Offering is not being greedy. It is like offering treasures we are about to discard to those we do not know. He says all our giving should be done with this kind of non-attachment, both unimportant and important things. If the opposite of generosity is greed, one of the three poisonous minds, then observing this precept and cultivating generosity would seem to be an important practice in dealing with our most basic delusions. It helps us go from being inflexible and self-involved to being more accepting and outward-looking.
Over and over we encounter teachings from Buddhas and ancestors about how we sit in zazen, begin to see how the world actually works, gain some understanding of interdependence, and on that basis our selfishness gives way to compassion and the desire to help others. As Dogen says, practice and awakening are not two.
Generosity comes from our practice. It's not enough for me to tell you to be generous. Nonattachment and concern for others arise because we see interdependence for ourselves and it becomes one of the bases for choosing how to act in the world. Greed does not arise because it no longer makes sense; it’s based on false information. Generosity arises from our practice the same way compassion does, the same way right action does, the same way anything we skillfully offer in the world does. We might think of generosity as a feeling or an impulse, but it’s a practice, something we actually do that benefits both ourselves and others. We don’t wait until we feel generous because of some circumstance we hear about. We constantly cultivate opportunities for generosity as part of our practice.
There are six paramitas or perfections: offering (dana), precepts (sila), patience (kshanti), diligence (virya), meditation (dhyana), and wisdom (prajna). Dogen says that dana is the first of the paramitas because it’s the most powerful in changing the minds of living beings, which is very difficult!
Uchiyama Roshi said, For breaking the ego’s grip, nothing is more effective than giving something up. Here is where precepts come in. They ask us to give up things like praising self, stealing what we want, misusing intoxicants, etc. though we may enjoy them. When we give up the chance to break precepts, what we’re offering to others is safety, security and peace.
The last three precepts are about the three poisonous minds of greed, anger and ignorance.
In the Buddhist tradition, there are three kinds of things we can give:
- Material support, like food and clothing. This includes the traditional practice of giving to monks as well as to those in society who need help. If we have the resources, we can find ways to help folks with basic needs by doing charity knitting, helping at the local soup kitchen, volunteering or donating to the crisis nursery, etc.
- Fearlessness. Because we’re making various kinds of efforts to see through our delusions and not to harm others, we free them from fear. Keeping the precepts means we’re not a threat to their lives, property or well-being. As it says in the Heart Sutra, the bodhisattva relies on wisdom, the mind is without hindrance, and without hindrance there is no fear. Also, it’s fear that gets in the way of our own generosity. We may have the aspiration or impulse to give, but then ask ourselves: What if I’m diminished? What if it’s a loss to me? Seeing the emptiness of self keeps fear from arising and getting in the way of generosity.
- Giving the Dharma as teachings. It’s said that the highest gift of all is the gift of dharma. We can give it by teaching if we're qualified or by facilitating the teaching of others. We also give by simply showing up in the zendo, offering fellowship and support to the sangha and helping out around the temple. Just carrying our practice and understanding quietly into the world is giving the dharma. To live by vow and keep the precepts is to share our wisdom and compassion with others.
The clear mind version of this precept is : Sharing understanding and freely giving of self. This is what a bodhisattva does to save all beings. It doesn’t mean to evangelize or force practice on others; it does mean to take the time with newbies, not to exclude them, to have patience, all without our own egos getting in the way.
Freely giving of self is generosity. When we think of generosity, we think about giving something to someone else, maybe money or things. Someone who is generous puts the needs or desires of others ahead of his attachment to his possessions, but there’s a lot more going on here: we also have to understand how generosity arises. Dana was a part of society in ancient India before Buddha. It generally had to do with charity, either to the poor directly or by building public projects that benefitted everyone. One of the earliest Hindu texts says, “Giving to the poor is true charity; all other giving expects some return.” This is a very old teaching.
Of course, it’s good to help others who need our help and try to ease their suffering. Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, lending your book to a classmate who’s left hers at home -- these are the daily physical acts of generosity that we do. However, in the larger, absolute view, there is no giving and receiving. It feels like I have some object and I can give it to you if you need it, but actually in this one unified reality there is no separation between giver, receiver and gift. There’s nothing I can grasp and own, because I’m just a temporary caretaker for “my” stuff. It's not possible for me to lose anything by offering it to you.
In the Bodaisatta Shishobo, Dogen says: Offering is not being greedy. It is like offering treasures we are about to discard to those we do not know. He says all our giving should be done with this kind of non-attachment, both unimportant and important things. If the opposite of generosity is greed, one of the three poisonous minds, then observing this precept and cultivating generosity would seem to be an important practice in dealing with our most basic delusions. It helps us go from being inflexible and self-involved to being more accepting and outward-looking.
Over and over we encounter teachings from Buddhas and ancestors about how we sit in zazen, begin to see how the world actually works, gain some understanding of interdependence, and on that basis our selfishness gives way to compassion and the desire to help others. As Dogen says, practice and awakening are not two.
Generosity comes from our practice. It's not enough for me to tell you to be generous. Nonattachment and concern for others arise because we see interdependence for ourselves and it becomes one of the bases for choosing how to act in the world. Greed does not arise because it no longer makes sense; it’s based on false information. Generosity arises from our practice the same way compassion does, the same way right action does, the same way anything we skillfully offer in the world does. We might think of generosity as a feeling or an impulse, but it’s a practice, something we actually do that benefits both ourselves and others. We don’t wait until we feel generous because of some circumstance we hear about. We constantly cultivate opportunities for generosity as part of our practice.
There are six paramitas or perfections: offering (dana), precepts (sila), patience (kshanti), diligence (virya), meditation (dhyana), and wisdom (prajna). Dogen says that dana is the first of the paramitas because it’s the most powerful in changing the minds of living beings, which is very difficult!
Uchiyama Roshi said, For breaking the ego’s grip, nothing is more effective than giving something up. Here is where precepts come in. They ask us to give up things like praising self, stealing what we want, misusing intoxicants, etc. though we may enjoy them. When we give up the chance to break precepts, what we’re offering to others is safety, security and peace.
