It’s relatively easy to be enlightened when sitting on the meditation cushion. But can you be as compassionate, calm, and generous in the daily life?
Practice Giving
Generosity in Buddhism isn’t just about giving things away; it’s about being compassionate and forming an essential part of Bodhicitta, which is the aspiration for enlightenment.
Practitioners are encouraged to be generous in various ways throughout the day, whether it’s giving money, time, kind words, or even just a smile. The focus is on the intention behind the giving, rather than the value of the gift itself.
You can practice giving even when you’re by yourself. Even if you don’t have much material wealth to share, you can still practice giving happily and sincerely by imagining giving things that aren’t yours to begin with.
Traditionally in Buddhism, we speak of three broad categories of gifts: material gifts, gifts of fearlessness, and gifts of dharma.
- The practice of giving material gifts
Develops through becoming more and more intimate with the thought of giving: your own possessions, your merit, and finally, even your own body.
- Gifts of fearlessness
Come in different ways. One way is to free people from being trapped, imprisoned, or suffering physically.
Another way is to treat someone with respect and admiration, helping them feel good about themselves like you see them as important. Lastly, showing bravery yourself to inspire and support others is also a way of giving fearlessness.
Fearlessness means being upright, willing to be who you are, and being that way so completely, fully, joyfully, enthusiastically, kindly, and compassionately, that others see and feel it and are inspired and encouraged to be fully themselves as well. You give yourself to yourself, and you give others to themselves.
- The third and most precious category is gifts of dharma.
This guideline encourages the bodhisattva to go beyond seeing themselves as separate from others and to let go of judging things as “this” or “that.”
In every relationship and every moment, ask yourself: What do they need from me? What’s the most valuable thing I can offer at this time? How can I identify it? And once I do, how can I give it to them?
