Alm-Giving and Offering as Dharma

At the period of Buddha, he stayed at Sravasti, Jeta and Anathapindika monastery, The Garden of Jeta and Anathapindika.

At that time, Nanda’s mother, a Velukandaki

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householder, made a set including six sections to offer the\r\nmonks. The Buddha with super-natural divine eyes saw Nanda’s mother\r\nmaking offerings in six parts and told the Bhiksus:

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Dear Bhiksu, there are three parts belonging to\r\nthe almsgivers and three parts belonging to the donation receivers. “What\r\nare three parts belong to the almsgivers? Almsgivers would be pleasant before\r\nthey offere; their mind is purity while they offer; and they feel delightful\r\nafter they do it. What are three parts of receivers? The receivers avoided from\r\ngreediness or practicing not to be greedy; avoided from anger or practicing not\r\nto be angry; and avoided from ignorance or practicing not to be ignorant. These\r\nare three parts for receiver’s donations. As a result, dear Bhiksu, there are\r\nsix parts of donations.”

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Dear Bhiksu, merit and virtue of\r\nsix-part-donations is really numberless. “It is a merit resource, a good\r\nresource, a peaceful and joyful food, the realm of devas, differing from the\r\ncause which leads to realms of haven and happy, peaceful and joyful life.”

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(ĐTKVN, Angutara Nikaya III,  Section: All the\r\ndevas, Part: Donations, VNCPHVN published, 1996, page 91)

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Comment:

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Practicing almsgiving and offering are popular cultivation\r\nfrom Buddhists. However, it is not easy for the offering people as well as the\r\nreceivers to gain the period of correct Dharma.

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Firstly, the almsgivers practicing generosity and offering\r\nshould come from the joyful, voluntary and willing morality.  Practicing\r\ngenerosity and offering have to stand on the purify faith of platform. The\r\nreason is that if we do not have the purify faith, the such noble actions will\r\ndeflect and increase the conceit because people think that they give grace.\r\nBecause “The thing we offer is not more important than the way we give it”,\r\ngiving a lot of money sometimes cannot practice a pure generosity. In addition,\r\npracticing almsgiving and offering should bring happy and joyful feeling to\r\ngivers when they bring the happiness to people. They are three basic elements\r\nthat the benefactors need to practice to achieve correct doctrine of the Buddha

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To the Monks, the receivers, they have to attempt to perfect\r\nthemselves and always think that “the gifts someone gives are worried gifts;\r\nthe things you receive are the debts”. If we do not cultivate, renovate\r\nourselves and exclude negativity, almsgiving because of faith will be\r\ndestroyed. The more things we receive, the more debts we will have to the\r\nalmsgivers if we do not create merit and virtue to turn towards them.\r\nTherefore, in parallel with almsgiving because of faith, the receivers have to\r\ngain the pure deliver, it means that receiving things with pure mind which they\r\nhave been avoiding the greedy, hatred and delusion.

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Therefore, in order to give alms and offerings which achieve\r\ncorrect doctrine of the Buddha and gain great benefits and merit, the\r\nalmsgivers and the receivers have to accomplish “six- part set”  as\r\nthe Buddha taught.

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Quảng Tánh.

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 Translated into English by Huynh Thi Khanh Phung