(3)) How to give
(a')) How not to give
(b')) How to give
(4)) Things to give
(a')) Brief presentation of the things which are and are not to be given
(b')) Detailed explanation of the things which are and are not to be given
(1')) Detailed explanation about inner things which are and are not to be given
(a")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of time
(b")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of purpose
(c")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the one who asks for something
(2')) Detailed explanation about outer things which are and are not to be given
(a")) How not to give outer things
(1")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of time
(2")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the gift
(3")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the person
(4")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of material things
(5")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of purpose
(b")) How to give outer things
(b)) What to do if you are unable to give
(c)) Relying on the remedies for the hindrances to generosity
(1)) The hindrance of not being used to generosity
(2)) The hindrance of declining fortune
(3)) The hindrance of attachment
(4)) The hindrance of not seeing the goal
(2") The generosity which is just mental
(d') A summary
(3)) How to give
This section has two parts:
1. How not to give
2. How to give
(a')) How not to give
Cast aside these thirteen ways of giving because they are to be eliminated: (1) not giving right away but only after you have delayed; (2) giving under stress; (3) giving after you have involved yourself in affairs that accord neither with the teachings nor with the ways of the world; (4) making a commitment beforehand that “I will give this much” and later making a gift of reduced quality or amount; (5) giving in return for favors; (6) giving in installments when you could give all at one time; (7) as a ruler, giving away someone else’s child or spouse that you have kidnapped; (8) taking through pressure the belongings of your parents, servants, etc. and then giving them to others; (9) making a gift by a method that will hurt someone else; (10) while you remain idle, employing someone else to do the giving; (11) giving while you criticize and have contempt for the one who asks for something, while you are indirectly critical in a way that implies contempt, or while you intimidate the recipient with harsh words; (12) giving while you violate the Buddha’s prohibitive precepts; and, (13) not giving resources as you acquire them but giving them after you accumulate them for a long time. [377]
Indeed, bodhisattvas see that it is wrong to give resources that you have stored up, whereas it is not wrong to give them away as you acquire them. This is because there is no additional merit in storing them up and then giving them at one time, and because you turn away many requests for your goods while you are storing them up; you come to feel tormented and may give them to someone who has not asked for them. These points stated in the Bodhisattva Levels are very important, for you can see that during the period of storing up the goods you produce many afflictions such as stinginess and the like, that the trouble of safeguarding them and so forth becomes a hindrance to many virtuous actions, and that more often than not you lose them at some point and are not able to give them away in the end anyway.
(b')) How to give
First of all, smile with a beaming countenance and then give to any recipient, showing respect by speaking honestly. Give with your own hands, at the appropriate time, without hurting anyone else, and bearing the suffering of any hardship. The result of these actions is described in the Chapter of the Truth Speaker (Satyaka-parivarta):206
By charity out of a sense of service, you will receive service from others such as your relatives; by using your own hands when giving you will obtain people who serve you; by giving when appropriate you will accomplish your aims on time.
And also:
By charity without hurting anyone else you will obtain stable resources; by giving while bearing unpleasantness you will have intimate companions.
Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Knowledge (Abhidharma-kośa) states that from giving charity with your own hands you get a vast amount of resources. The Treasury of Knowledge Auto-commentary (Abhidharma-kośa-bhāṣya) explains that “stable resources” means that others do not interfere with them and that fire, etc. does not destroy them. [378]
Furthermore, there is a way to help others to be generous. If you have some belongings, go to the homes of stingy people who have no experience of giving gifts even a few times. Joyfully and in a relaxed manner direct them as follows: “I really do own a vast amount of things. I want some people to ask me for things so that I can complete the perfection of generosity, so if you meet some people who ask you for something, rather than turning them away without giving them anything, take from my wealth and give it to them. Or else lead them to me, and then rejoice in my generosity.” This does not destroy their wealth, and they do this with pleasure. In this way they plant the seed for the removal of their stinginess. By gradually getting used to doing this they will give away a little of their own wealth and they will reduce their attachment a little. Contingent upon this, they will reach a moderate absence of attachment, and contingent upon that, a great absence of attachment. In like fashion, give belongings to your abbot, master, students, and friends who have a lot of attachment and are incapable of giving, and to those who are not like that but have no belongings, and then cause them to make offerings to the three jewels, rather than doing it yourself. By doing this you produce a great deal of personal merit. It pacifies the afflictions of some, fulfills the desire to practice the teachings in others, gathers beings around you, and causes them to mature.
Similarly, if you have no belongings, you may build up wealth through a craft or a job, and then give it away. Or else you may tell others a religious story in which even the poor or miserly wish to give. Alternatively, send those reduced to begging to the houses of rich persons who have faith, and go there yourself to assist in the giving of gifts to the extent that you are able. Also, as you sort through the material goods for charity, give the better first and give away completely all the goods presented for charity. [379]
(4)) Things to give
The explanation of the things to give has two parts:
1. Brief presentation of the things which are and are not to be given
2. Detailed explanation of the things which are and are not to be given
(a')) Brief presentation of the things which are and are not to be given
In brief, bodhisattvas should give to others those things which immediately produce in the recipients pleasurable feelings that are free from the causes for a miserable rebirth and which ultimately will benefit them, either eliminating their sin or setting them in virtue. Even if these things do not immediately bring happiness, they should give them if they are beneficial in the end. They should not give things which immediately produce pain and ultimately cause harm, or which are immediately pleasant but ultimately harmful.
(b')) Detailed explanation of the things which are and are not to be given
The detailed explanation of the things which are and are not to be given has two sections:
1. Detailed explanation about inner things which are and are not to be given
2. Detailed explanation about outer things which are and are not to be given
(1')) Detailed explanation about inner things which are and are not to be given
Once you understand how not to give inner things, you will know the opposite of that, what you should give. Therefore, I will first explain how not to give. This has three parts:
1. Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of time
2. Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of purpose
3. Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the one who asks for something
(a•;)) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of time
Right from the start, bodhisattvas give away to all living beings their bodies, etc. with complete sincerity. Nevertheless, though you may be asked, do not give away the flesh of your body and so forth until you have developed an attitude of great compassion. Then you will not despair at the hardship of being asked for such things. The Compendium of Trainings says:207
What is the joyous perseverance on account of which you become dispirited? It is when one who has little strength undertakes activity that is weighty or that extends over a long period of time; or when those lacking fully mature belief undertake difficult tasks like, for example, giving away their own flesh and so forth. Though these beginning bodhisattvas have given away their own body to all beings, still they turn away from untimely uses of it. Otherwise they would despair about these beings who ask for flesh, and thereby squander huge masses of good results due to wasting the seed of their spirit of enlightenment. [380] Therefore, the Questions of Sky Treasure Sūtra says: “Untimely wishes are demonic activity.”
Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds also says:208
Do not give away your body
While your compassionate attitude is impure.
In any case, give it away to achieve a great purpose
In this and future lives.
(b")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of purpose
Do not give away your body for some trifling purpose. Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds states:209
For something trifling do not harm your body,
Which is for practicing the sublime teachings;
In this way you will quickly
Fulfill the aims of living beings.
When from your perspective you are free of the hindrances to generosity—stinginess, etc.—and from others’ perspective there is the greater purpose of accomplishing the aims of many living beings if you do not give away your body, then you do not give away your limbs, etc. even if asked. If you are asked for your body, etc. for the purpose of engaging in wrongdoing such as killing and so forth that will harm yourself and others, do not give yourself away to another even temporarily.
(c")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the one who asks for something
Do not give your limbs, etc. when demonic deities or beings possessed by them ask for them with an intention of inflicting harm, because it will hurt them. Do not give when asked by a mad person or by those whose minds are disturbed because they are not sincerely asking, and their request is not well-considered. Not only is there no transgression in not giving to these beings, if you do give there is a transgression.
On occasions other than these you should give away your body when it is asked for. Furthermore, there are two ways to give away your body: (1) sectioning out your limbs and so forth and then making a permanent gift, and (2) giving yourself over temporarily into someone else’s power as a servant, etc. in order to bring about their religious aims.
(2')) Detailed explanation about outer things which are and are not to be given
This section has two parts:
1. How not to give outer things
2. How to give outer things
(a")) How not to give outer things
How not to give outer things has five parts: [381]
1. Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of time
2. Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the gift
3. Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the person
4. Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of material things
5. Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of purpose
(1")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of time
Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of time is, for instance, giving an afternoon meal to renunciates or those who have taken a one-day vow.
(2")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the gift
Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the gift is, for instance, giving left-over food and drink to one observing vows; giving food and drink contaminated and polluted by feces and urine, spittle and mucus, or vomit and pus; giving garlic, onion, meat, alcohol, or something tainted by these to those who do not eat or drink these things or who have vows for which it is inappropriate to use these things, even though they might want to eat or drink them; giving away a child, servant, and the like—even if you clearly convey the significance of the giving and they are pleased with it—when requested by someone you dislike, a yakṣa, a rākṣasa, someone overcome by belligerence, someone who is ungrateful, or someone forgetful; when approached by a sick person who asks for food and drink, giving unwholesome food and drink, and even giving wholesome food without moderation; giving tasty food when asked for it by extremely greedy people who are already satiated; and giving scriptures to non-Buddhist philosophers who have commercial interests, are seeking points of criticism, or do not want to learn the meaning of scripture. This is how the Bodhisattva Levels presents it. 210Understand it in more detail from the Bodhisattva Levels’ Compendium of Determinations (Viniścaya-saṃgrahaṇī), where it says:211
If you give a fully written Buddhist text to persons of childish intelligence who ask for it, you incur a misdeed. If you ask others for it to give to them, you also incur a misdeed. If you give it totally within thinking that you can cause them to become interested in or to embrace the profound teachings, you do not incur a misdeed. [382] If you give a text of spurious teachings or a treatise by non-Buddhist philosophers to beings who have faith in it after you have it set to writing, or you have an already written text in your possession, or you ask for a text from others, you incur a misdeed.
Bodhisattvas erase the written texts of non-Buddhist philosophers that they have in their possession and have the scriptures of the Buddha written down, or they recognize that the texts are without any substance at all and make it known to others as well that it is better to erase them and to have the Buddha’s scriptures written down.
If someone asks you, a bodhisattva, for a stack of blank paper prepared for a text, you should inquire, “What are you going to do with it?” If the reply is, “I am going to use it for commercial purposes,” and the stack of blank paper is one that you are preparing for religious purposes, do not give it. If you have the monetary equivalent of the stack of blank paper, give this to the person. If you do not have the monetary equivalent of the paper and can give neither money nor paper, you still do not incur a misdeed.
If you are not preparing the stack of blank paper for a religious purpose, by all means give it away so that it will be joyfully put to use. Similarly you do not incur a misdeed for not giving it when the request derives from a desire to transcribe a really vile book. It is the same case for someone who wants to transcribe a middling kind of book. But be aware that you do incur a misdeed by not meeting a request made by one who wants to transcribe an exalted text.
(3")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the person
Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of the person is, for instance, giving away a text to someone who asks for it while you have a desire to understand it—you still have not achieved the purpose of the text but are free from the defilement of stinginess about it.
Why this is inappropriate giving is as follows. Generosity such as this giving of the teachings is for the sake of any of three purposes: (1) removal of your stinginess, (2) completion of your vast collection of sublime wisdom, and (3) fulfilling the vast aims of others. Given this, if you do not give the text, the latter two purposes remain available to you, whereas if you do give it, they are not available to you. [383] You do not need to accomplish the first purpose, for in this case you do not have the defilement of stinginess, so it is not necessary to remove this affliction. If you do not give it, you will see an increase in your collection of sublime wisdom, whereas if you do give it, you will not have such a large increase. Furthermore, if you do not give the text, you will accomplish the collection of sublime wisdom for the benefit and happiness of all living beings, so you will be able to bring about happiness for this being who asks for the text and for all other living beings as well. If you do give it, however, just the one living being will be happy.
These greater or lesser purposes are spoken of in this manner in the Bodhisattva Levels.212 Also, Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds says,213 “Do not give up something exalted for something lesser,” so it is not that there is merely no fault in not giving it away.
The way to refuse to give is to avoid using harsh language, such as saying, “I am not giving it to you.” Rather, communicate with skill-in-means and then send the person off.
Skill-in-means is as follows. From the first, bodhisattvas turn over with pure intention all their belongings to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions. This is like, for example, the way that fully ordained monks keep religious robes and the like which they have mentally earmarked for their abbot or master. Because the monks have transferred their robes in this way, even though they accumulate belongings, they are called “bodhisattvas living in the noble family”214 and infinitely increase merit.
The bodhisattvas, then, hold their belongings in trust, as it were, for the buddhas and bodhisattvas. If someone asks for something, and if the belonging is suitable to be given to this person, then bodhisattvas give it, thinking, “I have no belonging that the buddhas and bodhisattvas have not given away to all living beings.” If the belonging is not suitable, the bodhisattvas depend on having transferred their things to the buddhas and bodhisattvas in a way similar to the monastic ritual of earmarking belongings, and then let the person know the situation, saying with soothing words, “My good person, this belongs to someone else. It is not something that I can give to you.” Or else, the bodhisattvas might give the monetary equivalent of two or three times the price of the book to someone to whom they have refused a text. [384] In any case, the person who asks for it will think with regard to the bodhisattva, “It is not craving that keeps this person from giving me the text; it is not in this person’s power to give it.” This kind of activity is the generosity of the wise.
(4")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of material things
Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of material things is, for example, such gifts as your parents; food and drink that have bugs; a child, wife, servant, etc. whom you have not told or, even if told, does not want to be given away; or a child or wife who are persons of the sort who have become accustomed to comfort. Though it is said that you should not give your child, wife, etc. into servitude, I have included them here among “material things” because the gift of material things is the form of generosity that is emphasized the most.
The Bodhisattva Levels’ Compendium of Determinations says that even if you do not satisfy a request for your three kinds of religious robes and any extra belongings [robes] other than those which the Buddha has permitted renunciates to own, you incur no fault if you do not have a stingy attitude toward them, and if they are requisite to your cultivation of virtue. Thus it says:215
If renunciate bodhisattvas give away extra belongings—robes other than their three kinds of religious robes—that are permitted by the Buddha, are resources for their bodies, and are conducive to maintaining their comfort, and do so after they have looked carefully at the persons who want them and ask for them, they do not incur a misdeed. Even if they do not give them away, they incur no misdeed at all as long as their not giving is for the purpose of their cultivation of virtue and they do not have attachment to them.
The Bodhisattva Vows of Liberation says: 216
Śāriputra, if bodhisattvas give away their three kinds of religious robes, treating the one who asks for them as more important than themselves, they are not relying on few desires.
Hence, if renunciate bodhisattvas give away their three kinds of religious robes, they incur a transgression. [385]
(5")) Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of purpose
Inappropriate giving from the viewpoint of purpose is, for instance, when you fulfill a request for poison, weapons, fire, or alcohol which is for harming either yourself or others; when you meet a request for things to play with and enjoy but which are associated with a prohibitive risk of accumulating the causes for taking a miserable rebirth; or when you satisfy a request for, or a request to learn about, pits, traps, and so forth for the sake of hurting living beings. This means that it is inappropriate even to give instructions about these things for the sake of bringing harm to the lives and resources of beings. Other examples are giving land or bodies of water when they are requested for the sake of harming beings that inhabit watery or dry areas; giving political authority over these or other places for the sake of bringing harm to the human inhabitants; or, when asked for such things by somebody whom you dislike, giving them instead to an enemy of this person.
(b")) How to give outer things
You must give outer things if the timing is not prohibited by the Teacher with respect to the recipient, and if giving the gift to this person is appropriate and suitable. Moreover, if you as the giver are a person opposite to that explained above, and are stingy with regard to a text, you must give it to a person who asks for it and who wishes to understand it, even though you may not have finished using it. This is to say, if you have a second copy, you give that, and if you do not, you should give the cost of having it copied out. If you do not have the money, you should definitely give the text away, thinking, “Though by giving this away I may be stupid in this life, it is all right; I will not acquiesce in my stinginess.”
As to material things, you should give everything except those things listed above. If you are a ruler, and someone asks for others’ children, wives, and so on, it is inappropriate to meet the request by separating each from their families, but you can give them as a whole together with the family dwelling and the like. Likewise, you must meet requests for things to play with that do not become a cause of taking a miserable rebirth; traps, etc. that do not hurt others; dry or wet places inhabited by living beings when no harm will come to the beings; and food and drink which do not have any bugs. [386] You should give even poison, weapons, fire, and alcohol if people ask for them in order to benefit themselves or others.
Qualm: What should you do when you are giving material gifts and two persons ask you for something, one of whom is poor and the other of whom is wealthy?
Reply: If you are confronted by both of them right from the first and you are able to fulfill both of their wishes, you should do so. If you are unable to do this, however, you should first think, “I will fulfill the wishes of the poor person,” and work to give the gift to this person. So you should let the wealthy one know the situation, saying with soothing words, “My friend, I have already planned from the first to distribute this article to this poor person. Please do not think that I have spurned you,” and then fulfill the wishes of the person who has no wealth.
I have written about the ways to learn these kinds of giving because they are extremely important for beginners who are keeping the bodhisattva vows. With the exception of some special cases I have explained all in accordance with the intended meaning of the Bodhisattva Levels. 217
(b)) What to do if you are unable to give
If you are overcome with stinginess when someone asks you for something, think as follows: “This material thing and I are definitely going to be parted by death; it will leave me and I will leave it. So I might as well take pleasure in giving this away and put it to good use, making a separation just as at the time of death. If I give this away, I will not have attachment to my wealth when the time comes for me to die. I will have no regrets and will give rise to feelings of pleasure and joy.”
If you are unable to give it away even though you reflect in this way, then inform the person who asks for it by means of the three things that they should know. This is described in the Questions of Householder Ugra Sūtra (Gṛha-pati-ugra-paripṛcchā-sūtra),218 which states that you should say, “I am new to the practice of the Mahāyāna and am still a person of small ability whose roots of virtue are not yet ripened. Also, I am under the influence of an ungenerous attitude. Further, I have a strongly grasping view of self and constantly conceive of a self and that which belongs to the self. So, excellent person, please forgive me and do not make it difficult for me. I shall try to do just what satisfies your thoughts and the thoughts of all living beings.” [387] According to the Compendium of Trainings, this is to eliminate the further fault of each losing confidence in the other, but it does not get rid of the fault of stinginess, a fault in bodhisattvas that is looked down upon. Still it seems that doing this prevents the cardinal transgression of not giving the teachings and wealth because of stinginess. Also, the Compendium of the Perfections states:219
If you cannot give because your ability is so small
Though people come and ask you for something,
So as to not make them feel low,
Comfort them with gentle speech.
Henceforth when people come to ask for something,
Do your best not to make them feel low and despairing,
And clear away the fault of stinginess.
Earnestly strive to eliminate craving.
(c)) Relying on the remedies for the hindrances to generosity
According to what is found in the Bodhisattva Levels’ Compendium of Determinations, there are four hindrances:
1. The hindrance of not being used to generosity
2. The hindrance of declining fortune
3. The hindrance of attachment
4. The hindrance of not seeing the goal
(1)) The hindrance of not being used to generosity
The hindrance of not being used to generosity is when you do not want to give to those who ask for something, even though you have material goods to give. The remedy for this is to avoid succumbing to the shortcoming of not being accustomed to generosity by quickly becoming aware, examining the situation, and reflecting, “This shortcoming is definitely the result of my previously not getting used to generosity,” and “Moreover, if I do not make this gift, I will dislike generosity in my future life as well.” Then, be generous.
(2)) The hindrance of declining fortune
The hindrance of declining fortune is when you do not feel generous because of the sparseness of your resources. The remedy to this is to make a gift after you willingly accept the suffering of poverty, thinking, “During the time that I have been passing through cyclic existence I have not helped others and have experienced many unbearable sufferings such as thirst, hunger, and the like because of being under the control of something else—that is, my former karma. [388] So even if I die from the suffering of this lifetime on account of my helping others, it is just better for me to be generous; whereas to turn away the person who asks me for something is not all right. Even in the absence of those resources, I will survive on some sort of wild plant.”
(3)) The hindrance of attachment
The hindrance of attachment is when you do not feel generous inasmuch as you have become attached to extremely attractive and excellent material goods that are to be given. The remedy for this is to quickly become aware of your shortcoming of attachment, and then to think, “This mistaken notion that thinks ‘I am happy’ with regard to what is by nature suffering will bring me suffering in the future.” Understanding this, eliminate your attachment and give away your material goods.
(4)) The hindrance of not seeing the goal
The hindrance of not seeing the goal is when you do not have in view the benefit of reaching perfect enlightenment that is contingent on generosity, but instead consider the benefit of a great amount of resources and then give things away. The remedy for this is to quickly become aware of this shortcoming; then to consider how, in general, all conditioned things perish moment by moment and how, in particular, your resources perish and leave you; and then to fully dedicate the giving of any gift for the sake of great enlightenment.
If you give while merely considering the karmic result of generosity—resources and the like—you will obtain a large amount of resources, but you will not attain liberation, just as business people who give without any hesitation all their goods to others for a price merely get a profit, but do not obtain merit. Āryadeva’s Four Hundred Stanzas (Catuḥ-śataka) says:220
“From making gifts to this person
I will get a great reward.”
Such getting and giving are looked down on
As being like wanting profit in business.
(2") The generosity which is just mental
The generosity which is just mental means that after you go to a quiet place and then withdraw your mind inward, with a pure motivation and faith from the depths of your heart, you construct with your thoughts an immeasurably vast quantity of diverse gifts, and you then imagine that you are offering them to all living beings. [389] This increases merit immeasurably with little difficulty and, moreover, is the giving of wise bodhisattvas, according to the Bodhisattva Levels.221 Although it says in the Questions of Subāhu Sūtra222 that this is to be done by those who do not have wealth, it is appropriate for those who have wealth to do it as well.
These ways for wise bodhisattvas to give when they have no resources are employed until they attain the first level, the level of pure wholehearted resolve, whereupon poverty in resources no longer occurs. For, the Bodhisattva Levels says:223
Thus, this is the giving of gifts for wise bodhisattvas while they have no resources and until they attain pure wholehearted resolve. Just as bodhisattvas of pure wholehearted resolve obtain a state which transcends miserable rebirths, so also they attain inexhaustible resources in all lifetimes.
(d") A summary
After you have taken the bodhisattva vows, make aspirational prayers with respect to how to learn the practice of generosity on the high levels, and then train in these methods. Understand and learn what is permitted and prohibited with respect to the methods of making gifts that you can engage in right away, as explained above. In particular, you must rely on the remedies to stinginess with respect to your body, resources, and roots of virtue. After you strive to steadily increase your generosity, you must cultivate joy for this practice and generate a feeling of sorrow for not having earlier trained your mind in that way. For, as it says in the Questions of Subāhu Sūtra,224 once you do this, you will be able to complete the perfection of generosity with little difficulty in another lifetime, whereas if you give all this up and set it aside, not only in this life will you be continually tainted by very grave faults, but in other lives as well you will not want to engage in giving, and it will therefore become extremely difficult to enter into the bodhisattva deeds. [390]
Furthermore, the Compendium of the Perfections states:225
The spirit of enlightenment is the root of such generosity,
So do not give up this motive to make such gifts.
The Conqueror said, “In the world the supreme form of giving Is the wish to give accompanied by the spirit of enlightenment.”
Thus, being mindful of the spirit of enlightenment—the basis of the bodhisattva deeds—cultivating it, aspiring to enlightenment, and making aspirational prayers to become enlightened form the root of all giving and the supreme kind of giving, so work hard at these. This is the excellent key point that sums up the meaning of the Questions of Subāhu Sūtra.