Generosity
SnowFlower Sun January 2025
From a Dharma talk by Don Katz
Generosity (dana in sanskrit) is the first of the six paramitas (or perfections). Some commentaries on generosity say, “Transcendent generosity is generosity which is free of the three limiting concepts, i.e. attachment to there being any substantial reality of a person giving, a recipient, and an act of giving.”
Another way to speak of this is to speak of the emptiness of the giver, the recipient, and the gift.
As I read this recently, I felt the bewilderment I often feel reading traditional Buddhist commentaries. There is something about the word “emptiness” that trips me up, no matter how many times I read about, and come to some understanding of it. When I see the word “emptiness”, it just means nothingness – and what can it mean to say that the giver, the recipient, and the gift are empty, that they have no substantial reality?
Thầy has the answer:
True dana is not a trade or a bargaining strategy. In true giving there is no thought of giver and recipient. This is called the “emptiness of giving,” in which there is no perception of separation between the one who gives and the one who receives. This is the practice of dana given in the spirit of prajña (wisdom) with the understanding of interbeing. You offer help as naturally as you breathe. You don’t see yourself as the giver and the other person as the recipient of your generosity who is now beholden to you and must be suitably grateful, respond to your demands, and so on. You don’t give in order to make the other person your ally. When you see that people need help, you offer and share what you have with no strings attached and no thought of reward.
This reframes emptiness to mean interdependence. Both the giver and the receiver are not truly separate from each other and from all appearances. There can be no giving without both a giver and a receiver. In fact, at the deepest level, our very existence depends on the existence and contributions of all other beings – the sun, rain, the earth, the people who produce our food, who build our houses, who populate our communities, who create the cultures that define us.
The gift too is empty, in the sense that it never belonged to me anyway – this belonging, this ownership is based on my mistaken idea of me as separate, and whatever possession does exist is a temporary phenomenon. Everything that I have will be lost some day, on or before the day of my death.
Even though I know all this intellectually, it is not in my bones. I am very attached to me, to what I want, to the idea of myself as having a separate existence. How do we get from there to a place of being able to let go, to be able to “offer and share what you have with no strings attached and no thought of reward”?
The Tibetan teachings recommend practicing. First, practice giving small things that are easy to let go of. If that is too hard, they even recommend just practicing giving from one hand to the other with the mind of letting go. I like that idea – after all, from the ultimate perspective, you are no more different from me than my left hand is from my right hand. By practicing giving without thought of reward, we can build the muscle of letting go.
Secondly, we can practice tonglen – sending and taking. The sending part of tonglen is letting go of all our happiness and merit – whatever we grasp onto – and imagining giving it to others to increase their happiness. Anytime we notice ourselves hanging on to something, or some happiness or accomplishment, we can imagine giving it to others. And gradually, by imagining this over and over, we develop the mind of letting go.
Engaged Buddhism: Practice in Action
Snowflower’s Earth Holders
By Danielle Thai
“A student asked me, ‘There are so many urgent problems, what should I do?’ I said, ‘Take one thing and do it very deeply and carefully, and you will be doing everything at the same time.’” — Thich Nhat Hanh
During this time of division and uncertainty, so many of us are looking for ways to use our practice in mindfulness and interbeing in ways to heal ourselves, our communities, and our Earth. Thich Nhat Hanh (Thầy) has laid the foundation for us to practice engaged Buddhism and to take our mindfulness and meditation off the cushion to create social change. This year a group of SnowFlowers started meeting monthly to explore how we could use our engaged Buddhist practice as members of the Plum Village Earth Holder Community. We are still in the early stages of learning and building this group, and we welcome all who are interested to join us.
The Earth Holder community grew from a weekend retreat in Deer Park Monastery in California in 2014 and has groups and members across North America and other continents. The purpose is to apply Thầy’s core teachings on engaged Buddhism, mindful living, social and racial justice, and inter-being with the Earth. The Earth Holder website highlights four key components to this work:
- Grow an earth-loving community through local Earth Holder groups, a monthly online sangha and resource-sharing.
- Develop a mindful approach to earth justice work by sharing earth-based mindfulness practices that inspire us to engage in the world with love and compassion.
- Uplift and support the leadership and voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and other marginalized communities.
- Advance earth-healing compassionate direct action.
In our SnowFlower Earth Holders group, we have been sharing local opportunities to participate in climate and social justice work, reading and discussing dharma teacher John Bell’s new book Unbroken Wholeness: Integrating Social Justice, Emotional Healing & Spiritual Practice, and exploring beloved community circles. In November, we participated in a Touching Simplicity walk with mindfulness practitioners around the globe, and several of us were trained in creating a meaningful Land Acknowledgement specific to our geographic area.
Our next SnowFlower Earth Holders meeting will be held via Zoom on Thursday, January 9th at 6pm and any SnowFlower is welcome to join us.
- If you have questions or would like to attend, please contact Mary Michal (maryhmichal@gmail.com) or Margot Kennard (margotkennard@gmail.com) who represent the SnowFlower Sangha on the Midwest Earth Holder Community Leadership Circle.
- If you’d like to be added to the SnowFlower Earth Holder email list, please contact Danielle Thai (ddthai5121@gmail.com).
- If you would like to share your experience with Engaged Buddhist practice in a future newsletter, please email Susan Schwaab (susan.schwaab@yahoo.com) or Danielle Thai (ddthai5121@gmail.com).
Announcements
SnowFlower Winter Potluck
When: Saturday February 1 at 11:30
Where: Goodman Community Center
What: Short sit followed by a meal with time for conversation
Watch the listserv for more information
SnowFlower Volunteer Needs
It takes a village to support SnowFlower Sangha. By volunteering you will not only support SnowFlower, but you will enhance your sense of belonging. Each of us has skills we can offer to SnowFlower. To express interest or explore volunteer opportunities, email Gloria Green at gloria.k.green@gmail.com
SnowFlower Listserv
- To send an e-mail to the groups send to snowflower-sangha@googlegroups.com.
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Weekly Meetings
To receive SnowFlower meeting announcements, please send an email to:
snowflower-sangha+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Tuesday Night Gathering: Time: 07:00 PM
Meet in person at the Friends Meeting House at 1704 Roberts Court (two blocks north of Trader Joe’s and a block west of Monroe Street). Please do not attend if you have any symptoms of illness. You can also join via Zoom.
Wednesday Afternoon Gathering: Time: 1:30 PM
Location varies, see email announcement.
Friday Night Gathering: Time 7:00 PM via Zoom
Sunday Morning Zoom Gathering: Time 10:00 AM via Zoom
Sunday Morning In-person Gathering: Time 10:00 AM
Edgewood College, 959 Edgewood College Dr, Madison, WI 53711 – Anderson Auditorium (Predolin Hall). Once inside the main entrance, there will be signs and one of us will be there to help guide you to the Nona McGreal Room, which is on the 3rd Floor. There is an elevator.