I Have No Home

The Mp3 recording from Wednesday 25th March 09 when Venerbale Sayadaw U Jotika stopped off in Bangkok to give a (much too rare) public talk, hosted by his publisher DMG Books is posted below (English only segments)

Sayadaw will be back in Bangkok at the end of June ‘09. If you enter your email in the CONTACT page you will get a notice of any event if we can get one organised.

Sayadaw is a hugely respected master from Burma, whose Dhamma is lyrical, simple and precise. There are several books of his teachings, notably the superb Map of the Journey and the book Snow in the Summer which is available online. While online versions are free, the proceeds from the printed versions are forwarded and used to help the suffering people in Myanmar.   This was a very special opportunity to meet with a tremendously inspiring teacher.

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The event was in English with translation into Thai, but through the wonders of modern computing it was a relatively painless process to cut the Thai parts and create an MP3 of just the English sections; posted below.

The talk was based on some verses from an old anonymous Samurai poem, which served as a launching point into some beautiful dhamma. In fact, this topic will be the basis of Sayadaw’s upcoming book.

Venerable Sayadaw will see this post and all your comments, and is very interested to hear your own reactions to the stanzas – what they mean to you. He has asked that, if you listen to the talk, you pick out whichever of the stanzas has struck you in anyway, and explain why. You can also leave any other messages/comments.

The verses referred to (use google for the full poem):

I have no parents; I make the Heavens and the Earth my parents.

I have no home; I make mindfulness my home.

I have no life or death; I make the tides of breathing my life and death.

I have no divine power; I make honesty my divine power.

I have no friends; I make my mind my friend.

I have no castle; I make the immovable mind my castle.

I have no sword; I make absence of self my sword.

(1) dana can also be divided into three categories namely, Inferior (Hina), Medium (Majjhima), and Superior (Panita). The degree of benevolence of an act is dependent upon the strength of intention (chanda), the conscious state (citta), energy (viriya), and investigative knowledge (Vimamsa) involved in the act. When these four constituent elements are weak, the dana is said to be of inferior type; when they are of medial standard the dana is regarded as of medium type; when all are strong, the dana is considered to be of the superior order.

(2) When the act of dana is motivated by desire for fame and acclaim, it is of inferior type; when the goal of dana is for attainment of happy life as a human being or a deva, it is of medium type; if the gift is made in reverence to the Ariyas or Bodhisattas for their exemplary habits of offering, it is an excellent gift of superior order.

(In the various discourses of the Pali Texts are mentioned parks and monasteries which were given the names of the individual donors, for example, Jetavana, the garden of Prince Jeta; Anathapindikarama, the monastery donated by the rich man Anathapindika; Ghositarama, the monastery donated by the rich man Ghosita. This system of nomenclature was adopted by the First Council Elders with the intention of encouraging others to follow their example and thus acquire merit. So donors today, when making such gifts, inscribe their names on marble or stone. In doing so they should keep under control, by exercise of mindfulness, any desire for fame bearing in mind that they make the gift in order to set an example to those who wish to acquire merit..)

(3) When the donor aspires for happy life as a human or celestial being, his gift is of inferior type; when the aspiration is for attainment of enlightenment as a disciple (Savakabodhi-nana), or as a silent Buddha (Paccekabuddha-nana), the gift is a medium one; when one aspires for Perfect Self-Enlightenment (Sammasambodhi Nana or Sabbannuta Nana), one’s gift is of superior order.

(By Bodhi or Enlightenment is meant knowledge of one of the four Paths. The sages of yore had advised that in order for the gift to serve as a means of escape from the round of rebirths (Vivattanissita), one should never make a gift in a haphazard or casual manner, one should seriously (positively) aspire for one of the three forms of Enlightenment while making an offering.)

(4) Again, gifts may be of three types, viz: dana-dasa, gift fit for a servant; dana-sahaya, gifts fit for a friend, and dana-sami, gifts fit for a master.

Just as in everyday life, one uses materials of good quality while offering the servants inferior things, so also if one makes a gift of materials which are poorer in quality than those enjoyed by oneself, the gift is of inferior type, a dana-dasa, fit for a servant; just as in everyday life, one offers one’s friends things which one uses and enjoys, so also if one makes a gift of materials which are of the same quality as used by oneself, then the gift is said to be of medium type (dana-sahaya); just as in everyday life, one makes present of gifts to one’s superior of things better in quality than those enjoyed by oneself, so also if one gives dana of superior quality materials, then the gift is said to be of superior order, dana-sami.

(5) There are three types of Dhamma-dana (the division being based on the meaning of the word ‘Dhamma’ for each type). In the first type of Dhamma-dana, ‘dhamma’ is the one associated with the Amisa dhamma-dana, mentioned above under dana categories by Twos. Therein, it was stated that Amisa dhamma-dana is the gift of palm-leaf scriptures or books of the Scriptures. In this classification, the ‘dhamma’ is the scriptures themselves, the Pariyatti Dhamma, that was taught by the Buddha and recorded on palm leaves or books as texts.) The dhamma-dana, there fore, means here teaching the Scriptures or giving the knowledge of the Buddha’s teachings to others. The Pariyatti is the gift-object, the material that is given; the listener is the recipient and one who teaches or expounds the dhamma is the donor.

(In the second type of Dhamma-dana, the ‘dhamma’ refers to the ‘dhamma’ included in the Abhidhamma classification of danas into six classes, namely, rupa-dana, sadda-dana, gandha-dana, rasa-dana, photthabba-dana and dhamma-dana, The dhamma in this particular case is explained as all that forms the object of the mind or mental objects) The mental objects are l) the five sense-organs (pasada rupas); (2) the sixteen subtle forms, (sukhuma rupas;) (3) the 89 states of consciousness, (citta); (4) 52 mental factors (cetasikas); (5) Nibbana and (6) Concepts (pannatti). Whereas in Pariyatti dhamma, the ‘dhamma’ means ‘noble’; here it has the sense of ‘the truth concerning the real nature of things’.

Dhamma-dana of this type is made through rendering assistance to those afflicted with (organic) disabilities, for example, weak eye-sight, trouble in hearing, etc. Helping others to improve their eye-sight is cakkhu (dhamma) dana; helping them to improve their hearing is sota (dhamma) dana, etc. The most distinctive dana of this type is Jivita-dana, the promotion of longevity of others. In a similar manner, the remaining danas of the type, namely, gandha, rasa, phottabba and dhamma may be understood.

In the third type of Dhamma-dana, the ‘dhamma’ refers to the Dhamma of the Triple Gem, namely, the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. As in the second type of Dhamma-dana, the Dhamma here means the Scriptures of the teachings of the Buddha. Whereas in the second type the ‘dhamma’ is a gift-object for offering, while the listener is the recipient; in this third type, the Dhamma, which is a part of the trinity of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha itself forms the recipient to which offerings are to be made. When the Buddha and the Sangha become recipients, the associated Dhamma; also becomes a recipient of offerings.

To give an illustration: The Buddha was residing in the Jetavana monastery in Savatthi. At that time a rich householder who had faith in the Teaching, thought to himself thus; ‘I have had opportunities to honour the Buddha and the Sangha constantly with offerings of food, robes, etc. But I have never honoured the Dhamma by making offerings to it. It is time now that I should do so’. With this thought, he approached the Bhagava and asked the Bhagava how to do about it.

The Bhagava replied: ‘If you wish to honour the Dhamma, you should give food, robes etc. to the bhikkhu who is well cultivated in the Dhamma, but with the clear intention of honouring the Dhamma which he has realized’.

When the householder asked the Bhagava which bhikkhu would be appropriate to receive such an offering, the Buddha told him to ask the Sangha. The Sangha directed him to give his offerings to Venerable Ananda. So he invited Venerable Ananda and made a generous offering of food, robes, etc. to him, keeping in mind that he was honouring the Dhamma which Venerable Ananda had realized. This story is described in the introduction to the Bhikkhaparampara Jataka, the thirteenth Jataka of the Pakinnaka Nipata.

According to the story, the householder is the donor; food, robes, etc. are material objects of offering, and the body of the Dhamma which lies embedded in the person of the Venerable Ananda is the recipient of the gift.

This householder was not the only one who made such offerings at the time of the Buddha, keeping in mind the Dhamma as the recipient of offering. The Text clearly mentions that the great ruler Siri Dhammisoka (Asoka) with much pious reverence for the Dhamma built monasteries, 84,000 in all, one in honour of each of the 84,000 groups of Dhamma (Dhammakkhandha) which form the complete Teaching of the Buddha.

(Note of Caution) Many have heard of this great dana of Asoka and have desired to imitate him in such giving. But it is important to follow his example in a proper manner. The real motive of the great king Asoka was not merely giving of monasteries, but the paying of respect to the groups of Dhamma individually. Building of monasteries serves only to provide him with materials for offering. Later generations of donors who wish to follow the example of Siri Dhammasoka should understand that they build monasteries not just as objects for offering, not with the intention of acquiring the fame of being a monastery donor, but with the sole aim of paying homage to the Dhamma.

The significance of these Dhamma-danas may be appreciated when one remembers the importance of the Teaching, the Dhamma. The great Commentator, Venerable Maha Buddhaghosa concluded his work Atthasalini, the Commentary to the Dhammasangani, the first book of the Abhidhamma, with the wish “May the true Dhamma endure long. May all beings show reverence to the Dhamma.” (Ciram titthatu saddhammo, dhamme hontu sagarava, sabbepi satta). He made this wish because he was fully aware of the important role of the Dhamma. He realised that as long as the Dhamma endures, the teachings of the Buddha cannot decline and everyone who honours the Dhamma will show reverence to the teachings and follow them. And the Buddha had said, “Only those who see the Dhamma, see me.” And nearing the end of his life, the Buddha had said that “The Dhamma will be your teacher after I am gone”. (So vo mamaccayena sattha.)

Therefore one should strive to cultivate this third type ‘of Dhamma-dana which plays such an important role.

(6) Another three types of dana are classified as Dukkara-dana, gift which is difficult to be given; Maha-dana, awe inspiring gift of great magnificence; and Simanna-dana, common forms of gifts, which are neither too difficult to make, nor too magnificent.

An example of the first type, Dukkara-dana, may be found in the story of dana given by Darubhandaka Tissa. This story is given in the commentary to the 28th vagga of Ekadhammajhana, Ekakanipata of the Anguttara Nikaya.

The story of the dana given by Darubhandaka

There was a poor man who lived in Mahagama of Sri Lanka, and who earned his living by selling firewood. His name was Tissa, but because his livelihood was selling firewood, he was known as Darubhandaka Tissa (Tissa who has only firewood as property).

One day he had a talk with his wife: “Our life is so humble, wretched, lowly; although the Buddha had taught the benefits of nibaddha-dana, the observance of the duty of regular giving, we cannot afford to cultivate the practice. But we could do one thing; we could start giving alms-food regularly twice a month, and when we could afford more, we will try for the higher offering of food by tickets* (salakabhatta).” His wife was agreeable to his proposal and they started giving whatever they could afford as alms food the next morning. (* According to I.B.Horner (Book of the Discipline), food tickets were issued at times when food was scarce. But the story of Darubbandaka suggests that the same is adopted also when food is abundant as a higher form of dana.

That was a very prosperous time for the bhikkhus who were receiving good food in plenty. Certain young bhikkhus and samaneras accepted the poor alms-food offered by the Darubhandaka’s family, but threw it away in their presence. The housewife reported to her husband, “They threw away our alms-food”, but she never had an unpleasant thought over the incident.

Then Darubhandaka Tissa had a discussion with his wife. “We are so poor we cannot offer alms-food that would please the Noble Ones. What should we do to satisfy them”. “Those who have children are not poor”, said his wife in order to give him solace and encouragement and advised him to hire out the services of their daughter to a household, and with the money so acquired, to buy a milch cow. Darubhandaka accepted his wife’s advice; he obtained twelve pieces of money with which he bought a cow. Because of the purity of their wholesome volition the cow yielded large quantities of milk.

The milk they got in the evening was made into cheese and butter. The milk they got in the morning was used by the wife in the preparation of milk porridge which together with the cheese and butter, they offered to the Sangha. In this manner, they were able to make offerings of alms food which was well accepted by the Sangha. From that time onwards the salakabhatta of Darubhandaka was available only to the Noble Ones of high attainments.

One day Darubhandaka said to his wife, “Thanks to Our daughter we are saved from humiliation. We have reached a position in which the Noble Ones accepted our alms food with great satisfaction. Now, do not miss out on the regular duty of offering alms food during my absence. I shall find some kind of employment; I shall come back after redeeming our daughter from her bondage.” Then he went to work for six months in a sugar mill where he managed to save up twelve pieces of money with which to redeem his daughter.

Setting out for home early one morning, he saw ahead of him, Venerable Tissa on his way to worship at the Pagoda at Mahagama. This bhikkhu was one who cultivated the austere practice of pindapata, that is, he partakes only of alms food offered him when going on alms round. Darubhandaka walked fast to catch up with the bhikkhu and strolled along with him, listening to his talk of the Dhamma. Approaching a village, Darubhandaka saw a man coming out with a packet of cooked rice in his hand. He offered the man one piece of money to sell him the packet of meal.

The man realising that there must be some special reason for offering one piece of money for the food packet when it was not worth the sixteenth part of it, refused to sell it for one piece of money. Darubhandaka increased his offer to two, then three pieces of money and so on until he had offered all the money he possessed, But the man still declined the offer (thinking Darubhandaka had still more money with him.)

Finally, Darubhandaka explained to the man, “I have no money with me other than these twelve pieces. I would have given you more if I had. I am buying this meal packet not for myself; wishing to offer alms food, I have requested a bhikkhu to wait for me under the shade of that tree. The food is to be offered to that bhikkhu. Do sell me the packet of food for this twelve pieces of money. You will also gain merit by doing so.’

The man finally agreed to sell his food packet and Darubhandaka took it with great happiness to the waiting bhikkhu. Taking the bowl from the bhikkhu, Darubhandaka put the cooked rice from the packet into it. But the Venerable Thera accepted only half of the meal. Darubhandaka made an earnest request to the bhikkhu: “Venerable Sir, this meal is sufficient for only one person. I will not eat any of it. I bought the food intending it only for you. Out of compassion for me, may the Venerable One accept all the food.” Upon this, the Venerable Thera permitted him to offer all the food in the packet.

After the Thera had finished the meal, they continued the journey together and the bhikkhu asked Darubhandaka about himself. Darubhandaka told everything about himself very frankly to the bhikkhu. The Thera was struck with awe by the intense piety of Darubhandaka and he thought to himself: “This man has made a dukkara-dana, an offering which is difficult to make. Having partaken of the meal offered by him, under difficult circumstances, I am greatly indebted to him and I should show my gratitude in return. If I can find a suitable place, I shall strive hard to attain Arahatship in one sitting. Let all my skin, flesh and blood dry up. I will not stir from this position until I attain the goal”. As they reached Mahagama, they went on their separate ways.

On arriving at the Tissa Mahavihara Monastery, the Thera was alloted a room for himself, where he made his great effort, determined not to stir from the place until he had eradicated all defilements and become an arahat. Not even getting up to go on the alms round, he steadfastly worked on until at the dawn of the seventh day, he became an Arahat fully accomplished in the four branches of Analytical Knowledge (Patisambhida). Then he thought to himself thus: “My body is greatly enfeebled. I wonder whether I could live longer”. He realised through exercise of his psychic powers that the phenomenon of nama rupa which constituted his living body would not continue much longer. Putting everything in order in his dwelling place and taking his bowl and great robes he went to the Assembly Hall at the center of the monastery and sounded the drum to assemble all the bhikkhus.

When all the bhikkhus had gathered together, the head Thera enquired who had called for the assembly. Venerable Tissa who had cultivated the austere practice of taking only alms food, replied, “I have sounded the drum, Venerable Sir” “And why have you done so?” “I have no other purpose, but if any member of the Sangha has doubts about the attainments of the Path and Fruition, I wish them to ask me about them”.

The head Thera told him there were no questions. He then asked Venerable Tissa why he had persevered so arduously sacrificing even his life for the attainment. He related all that had happened and informed him that he would pass away the same day. Then he said, “May the catafalque on which my corpse would be supported remain immoveable until my alms-food donor, Darubhandaka, comes and lifts it with his own hands”. And he passed away that very day.

Then King Kakavannatissa came and ordered his men to put the body on the catafalque and take it to the funeral pyre at the cremating grounds, but they were not able to move it. Finding out the reason for this, the king sent for Darubhandaka, had him dressed in fine clothes and asked him to lift up the catafalque.

The text gives an elaborate account of how Darubhandaka lifted up the catafalque with the body on it easily over his head and how, as he did so, the catafalque rose in the air and travelled by itself to the funeral pyre.

Darubhandaka’s dana involving the sacrifice ungrudgingly of twelve pieces of money which were needed for redeeming his own daughter from servitude and which had taken six whole months to earn is indeed a very difficult one to give and thus is known as Dukkara-dana.

Another example of such gifts is found in the story of Sukha Samanera given in the tenth vagga of the Commentary to the Dhammapada. Before he became a samanera, he was a poor villager who wanted to eat the sumptuous meal of a rich man. The rich man Gandha told him that he would have to work for three years to earn such a meal. Accordingly he worked for three years and obtained the meal he so earnestly longed for; when he was about to enjoy it a Paccekabuddha happened to come by. Without any hesitation, he offered the Paccekabuddha the meal which he had so cherished and which had taken him three years to earn.

Another example is provided by the Ummadanti Jataka of Pannasa Nipata which gives the story of a poor girl who worked for three years to get the printed clothes she wanted to adorn herself. When she was about to dress herself in the clothes she had so yearned for, a disciple of the Buddha Kassapa came by (who was covered only with leaves because he had been robbed of his robes by the dacoits). The giving away of clothes which she so cherished and for which she had to work for three years is also a Dukkara type of dana.

Awe-inspiring gifts of great magnificence are called Maha dana. The great Siri Dhammasoka’s (Asoka) gifts of 84,000 monasteries in honour of 84,000 passages of the Pitaka are great danas of this type. On this account Venerable Mahamoggaliputta Tissa said, “In the Dispensation of the Buddha. or even in the life time of the Buddha, there is no one equal to you as a donor of the four requisites. Your offering is the greatest.”

Although the Venerable Mahamoggaliputta Tissa said so, the gifts of Asoka were made on his own initiative without any one to compete and therefore, there is no need to classify them as Sadisa or Asadisa type of dana. Passenadi Kosala’s gifts were made in competition with those of the citizens (of Savatthi) and are therefore termed ‘Asadisa dana‘, the Matchless gift.

All other gifts of ordinary nature which are neither difficult to make nor of great magnitude are just common gifts, Samanna dana.

In addition to these, there is another classification of three Dhamma danas described in the Vinaya Parivara Texts and its commentary, viz:

1. Giving to the Sangha gifts which were verbally declared to be offered to the Sangha,
2. Giving to the Pagoda gifts which were verbally declared to be offered to the Pagoda, and
3. Giving to the individual gifts which were verbally declared to be offered to the individual.

These are called Dhammika-dana, gifts offered in connection with the Dhamma. (Further details of these types of gifts will be found below in accordance with the nine gifts of Adhammika-dana.

The texts do not mention any type of gifts by fours. But Vinaya lists four kinds of requisites which may be offered as gifts. They are:

1. Gift of robe or robe-materials (Civara dana),
2. Gift of alms food (Pindapatadana),
3. Gift of dwelling places (Senasana dana),
4. Gift of madicinal materials (Bhesajja dana).

Gifts may also be classified into four types depending on the purity of the donor and the receiver, viz:

1. dana where the donor has morality but the recipient has not.
2. dana where the recipient has morality but the donor has not,
3. dana where both the donor and the recipient are immoral, and
4. dana where both the recipient and the donor have morality.

“The Great Chronicle of Buddhas”

(Translated by Professors U Ko Lay and U Tin Lwin)

Vol. 1, Part 1, Page 52- 88, 1991

Types of Dana in Groups of Twos.

(1)Amisa dana: Offering of material things. Offering of material things such as alms rice etc.

(2) Dhamma dana; the gift of the teaching. It is also called Paccaya dana (when the things offered are the requisites of bhikkhus).

puja-dana, honouring with an offering when the gift is made by a younger person or a person of lower status to an older person or a person of higher status; and

‘anuggaha-dana‘ offering to render assistance out of kindness ‘when a gift is given by an older person or a person of higher status to one who is younger or of lower status.

Ajahattika-dana: Offering of one’s own person, meaning giving away of one’s own life and limbs. and

Bahira-dana: Offering of external properties .Offerings of external properties include giving of all the external material possessions of the donor.

Vatthu-dana: Offering of property

Abhaya-dana: Granting of safety.

Vatthu-dana : concerned with offering of material things.

Abhaya-dana means granting of safety or security with respect to life or property. This is usually an exercise of mercy by kings.

Vattanissita-dana :Offering made in the hope of future worldly wealth and pleasures, which mean suffering in the cycle of existences.

Vivattanissita-dana is concerned with offering made in aspiration for Nibbana which is free of the suffering of rebirth.

Savajja-dana: Dana tainted with fault. Offering of meals with meat obtained from killing of animals is an example of dana tainted with fault.

Anavajja-dana: Dana untainted with fault . Offering of meals which does not involve killing of animals is dana untainted with fault.

Sahatthika-dana: Offering made with one’s own hands

Anattika-dana: Offering made by agents on one’s behalf or made by others under one’s instruction.

Sakkacca-dana: Offerings made with proper and careful preparations

Asakkacca-dana: Offering made without proper and careful preparation.

Nanasampayutta-dana: Offering associated with wisdom: Offering made with clear comprehension of volitional acts and the results they produce is said to be an offering associated with wisdom

Nanavippayutta-dana: when an offering is made without such comprehension and awareness, by just following examples of others making donations, it is .

Sasankharika-dana: Offering made hesitatingly and only after being urged;

Asankharika-dana: Offering made spontaneously without being urged. Here urging means prompting or entreating earnestly someone to give when he is hesitating or reluctant to do so.

Somanassa-dana: Offering made while one is in a joyful mood with a happy frame of mind is ; Offering made with a balanced state of mind,

Upekkha-dana: neither joyous nor sorrowful but equipoised is .

Somanassa-dana; : When the act of giving is accompanied by pleasure, it is when it is accompanied by equanimity it is

Dhammiya-dana; :Offering of property earned in accordance with Dhamma by just means .

Adhammiya-dana: Offering of property earned by immoral means such as stealing, robbing is. Although earning of property by immoral means is not in accord with dhamma, offering as alms of much property is nevertheless an act of merit;

Dasa dana: Offering made with hopes of gaining worldly pleasures is Enslaving dana,, the offering that will enslave one. Being a slave to craving for sense-pleasures, one makes this kind of dana to serve one’s Master, the Craving to fulfil its wishes.

Bhujissa-dana: Offering made with aspiration for attainment of the Path and Fruition, the Nibbana, is dana for freedom, (offering made in revolt against the dictates of the Master, the Craving).

Thavara-dana.: Offering of things of permanent, immovable nature such as pagodas, temples, monasteries, rest houses and digging wells, tanks etc.

Athivara-dana: Offerings of movable nature, meant for temporary use such as food, robes etc. movable gifts is .

Saparivara-dana Offering made with accompaniment of supplementary materials that usually go along with such on offering is .

Aparivira-dana: when there are no other objects of offering besides the main item of robes, it is a gift without accompanying things.

Nibaddha dana: Offering made constantly or regularly such as offering of alms food to the Sangha every day is Constant dana,;

Anibaddha dana: Offering made not constantly, not on a regular basis but only occassionally when one is able to is, occasional offering.

Paramattha-dana: Tarnished offering: Offering which is tarnished by craving and wrong view

Ucchitthadana: Offering made with what is left over, what is interior, wretched ;

Anucchittha-dana: Offering made with what is not left over, what is not inferior, wretched. Suppose, while preparations are being made for a meal, a donee appears

agga-dana: one donates some of the food that has been prepared before one has taken it it is considered to be ‘the highest gift’ nd it is also an anucchitha-dana since the offering is not the left over of a meal. .

Sajiva- dana: Offering made while one is still alive is ; Offering which is meant to become effective after one’s death:

Accaya-dana.: ‘I give such of my property to such and such a person. Let him take possession of them after my death and make use of them as he wishes’

19) Offering made to one or two separate, individual persons is Puggalika-dana; Offering made to the whole Order of Bhikkhus, the Sangha, is Sanghika-dana. Sangha means group, assemblage or community; here, the whole community of the Ariya disciples of the Buddha is meant. In making an offering intended for the Sangha, the donor must have in his mind not the individual Ariya disciples that constitute the Order, but the community of the Ariya disciples as a whole. Then only, his offerings will be of the Sanghika type.

Dakkhinavibhanga Sutta (of Majjhima Nikaya Pali Canon) gives an enumeration of 14 kinds of gifts to individuals, Puggalika dana, and 7 kinds of gifts to the Sangha, Sanghika dana. It is useful to know them.

14 kinds of gifts to individuals

• (1) Offering made to a Buddha,
• (2) Offering made to a Pacceka-Buddha, a non-teaching Buddha,
• (3) Offering made to an Arahat or to one who has attained the Arahattaphala stage,
• (4) Offering made to one who is striving to realise Arahattaphala or one who has attained the Arahattamagga stage,
• (5) Offering made to an Anagami or to one who has attained the Anagamiphala stage,
• (6) Offering made to one who is striving to realise Anagamiphala or one who has attained the Anagamimagga stage,
• (7) Offering made to Sakadagami or to one who has attained the Sakadagamiphala stage,
• (8) Offering made to one who is striving to realise Sakadagamiphala or one who has attained Sakadagamimagga stage,
• (9) Offering made to a Sotapanna or to one who has attained the Sotapatti stage,
• (10) Offering made to one who is striving to realise Sotapattiphala or one who has attained Sotapattimagga stage,
• (11) Offering made to recluses (outside the Teachings of the Buddha or when the Teaching is not extant) who are accomplished in Jhana or Supernormal Power attainments,
• (12) Offerings made to an ordinary lay person who is possessed of morality,
• (13) Offerings made to an ordinary lay person who is devoid of morality, and
• (14) Offering made to an animal.

Of these 14 kinds of offering made to individuals, giving one full meal to an animal will bring wholesome results of long life, good looks, physical well-being, strength, and intelligence for one hundred lives. Then in an ascending order, giving one full meal to a lay person of poor morality will bring these wholesome results for one thousand lives; to a lay person of good morality at a time when Buddha’s teachings are not extant and he has no opportunity to take refuge in the Triple Gem, for a hundred thousand lives; to recluses and ascetics accompli shed in Jhana attainments, for ten billion lives; to lay men and novitiates (during a period when the teaching. of Buddha are extant) who take refuge in the Triple Gem , and up to the Noble person who has attained the Sotapattimagga. for an innumerable period (asankhyeyya) of lives; and to persons of higher attainment up to the Buddha, for countless periods of lives. (According to the Commentary, even one who only takes refuge in the Triple Gem may be considered as a person who is practising for realisation of Sotapattiphala).

There is no mention of bhikkhus of loose morality in the above list of 14 kinds of recipients of offerings made to individuals. The Buddha’s enumeration of offering made to a person devoid of morality concerns only the period when the Buddha’s Teaching is not extant. For these reasons, there is a tendency to consider that offerings made to bhikkhus of impure morality while the Buddha’s teachings are still extant are blameworthy. But one should remember that any one who has become a Buddhist at the very least takes refuge in the Triple Gem; and the Commentary says that whoever takes refuge in the Triple Gem is a person who is practising for realisation of Sotapatti phala. Furthermore when an offering made to an ordinary lay person devoid of morality (while the Teaching of Buddha is not extant) could be of much benefit, there is no doubt that offerings made to an ordinary lay person devoid of morality while the Teaching of the Buddha is still extant could be beneficial too.

Again, in the Milinda-Panha Text,, Nagasena Thera explains that an immoral bhikkhu is superior to an immoral lay person in ten respects such as reverence shown to the Buddha, reverence shown to the Dhamma, reverence shown to the Sangha etc. Thus, according to the Milinda Panha, an immoral bhikkhu is superior to an immoral lay person; and since he is listed by the Commentary as one who is practising for realisation of Sotapattiphala, one should not say that it is blameworthy and fruitless to make an offering to a bhikkhu devoid of morality.

There is yet another point of view in connection with this matter. At a time when there is no Teaching of the Buddha, immoral bhikkhus cannot cause any harm to the Teaching; but when the Teaching is in existence, they can bring harm to it. For that reason, no offering should be made to bhikkhus devoid of morality during the period when there is the Buddha’s Teaching. But that view is shown by the Buddha to be untenable.

At the conclusion of the discourse on seven kinds of offerings to the Sangha, Sanghika-dana (see below), the Buddha explains to Ananda:

“Ananda, in times to come, there will appear vile bhikkhus, devoid of morality, who are bhikkhus only in name, who will wear their robes round their necks. With the intention of giving to the Sangha, offerings will be made to these immoral bhikkhus. Even when offered in this manner, a Sanghika-dana, an offering meant for the whole Sangha, I declare, will bring innumerable, inestimable benefits.”

There is still another point to take into consideration. Of the Four Purities of Generosity (Dakkhina Visuddhi), the first Purity is: Even if the donee is of impure morality, when the donor is moral, the offering is pure by reason of purity of the donor. For these reasons also, one should not say that an immoral bhikkhu is not a donee, and that no benefit will accrue by making an offering to him.

It should be well noted, therefore, it is blameworthy only when we make an offering with bad intentions of approving and encouraging an immoral bhikkhu in his evil practices; without taking into considerations his habits, if one makes the offering with a pure mind, thinking only ‘one should give if some one comes for a donation’, it is quite blameless.

Seven kinds of gifts to the Sangha, Sanghika-dana

• (1) Offering made to the community of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis led by the Buddha, while the Buddha. is still living.
• (2) Offering made to the community of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis after Parinibbana of the Buddha;
• (3) Offering made to the community of bhikkhus only;
• (4) Offering made to the community of bhikkhunis only;
• (5) Offering made (with the whole Sangha in mind.) to a. group of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis as nominated by the Order, such an offering is made when the donor could not afford to give offerings to all the bhikkhus. and bhikkhunis; the donor approaches the Order and requests it to nominate a certain number (he could afford to give) of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis to receive his offerings. The Sangha nominates the required number of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis and the donor makes his offerings to that group of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (with the whole Sangha in mind);
• (8) Offering made to a group of Bhikkhus only (with the whole Sangha in mind) after requesting the Sangha to nominate the number he could afford to give; and
• (7) Offering made (with the whole of Sangha in mind) to a group of Bhikkhunis only after requesting the Sangha to nominate (he number he could afford to give.

Of these seven kinds of Sanghika-dana, it may be asked if it is possible to make an offering of the first kind, namely, an offering made to the community of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis led by the Buddha, after the Parinibbana of the Buddha. The answer is ‘Yes, it is possible’ and the offer should be made in this manner: after placing a statue of the Buddha containing relics in front of the community of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis who have gathered for the ceremony, the offering should be made, saying, ‘I make this offering to the community of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis led by the Buddha’.

Having done an offering of the first kind, the question arises as to what happens to the objects of offering intended for the Buddha. Just as the property of the father customarily goes to the son, so too should the offerings intended for the Buddha go to the bhikkhu who does devotional duties to the Buddha or to the community of bhikkhus. Especially, if the objects offered include such materials as oil, ghee, etc. they should be utilized in offering of lights by oil lamps to the Buddha; pieces of cloth included in the offering should be made into banners and streamers to be offered in worship.

During the Buddha’s lifetime, people were generally not disposed to form attachment to or concerning them selves with, individual personalities; they had their mind bent on the Order of bhikkhus as a whole, and thus were able to make much offering of the noble Sanghika-dana kind. Consequently, the needs of the members of the Order were mostly met by the distributions made by the Order; they had little need to rely on lay man and lay woman donors and therefore had little attachment to them as ‘the donors of my monastery, the donors of my robes etc.’ Thus, the bhikkhu could be free of bonds of attachments.

Brief story of the Householder Ugga

Those desirous of making offerings of pure Sanghika-dana type should emulate the example set by the house holder Ugga. The story of the householder Ugga is found in the second discourse of the Gahapati Vagga, Atthaka nipata of Anguttara Nikaya Pali Canon.

At one time when the Bhagava was residing at Elephant Village in the country of Vajji, the Bhagava addressed the bhikkhus, saying ‘Bhikkhus, you should regard the householder Ugga of Elephant Village as a person endowed with eight wonderful attributes’. Stating thus briefly without giving any elaboration, the Bhagava went inside the monastery.

Then a bhikkhu went in the morning to the house of the householder and said to him, ‘Householder, the Bhagava has said that you are a person endowed with eight wonderful attributes. What are those eight wonderful attributes which the Bhagava said you are endowed with?

“Venerable Sir, I am not exactly sure what specific eight wonderful attributes the Buddha said I am endowed with but please listen with proper attention to an account of the eight wonderful attributes which I actually possess.” Then he gave the following full description of the eight wonderful attributes as follows:

(1) The first time I saw the Buddha was when I was drinking and enjoying myself in the forest of Ironwood flowers. As soon as I saw the Buddha coming in the distance, I became sober and devotional piety and faith in the virtues of the Buddha rose in me. This is the first wonder.

(2) At that very first meeting with the Buddha, I took refuge in the Buddha and listened to his discourse. As a result, I became a Sotapanna, a ‘Stream—winner’, and established in the observance of Brahmacariya-pancama-sila. This is the second wonder.

(Brahmacariya-pancama-sila is similar to the five precepts habitually observed by lay people except that, instead of the precept ‘abstain from sexual misconduct’, it has the precept ‘I abstain from any form of sexual inter course’. With the usual formula of the five precepts, and one abstains from sexual intercourse with any one other than one’s own wise; but the Brahmacariya-pancama-sila requires total abstinence of sex, not even with one’s own wife).

(3) I had four wives; as soon as I arrived back home, I said to them: I have vowed to observe the precept of total abstinence; whichever of you wishes to remain living in this house may do so enjoying my wealth as you like and doing meritorious deeds with it; whoever wants to go back to her parents home is also free to do so; and whoever wants to get married to another man may just tell me to whom I should give you’. The eldest of my four wives expressed the wish to be given to a certain person whom she named. I sent for the man and holding my eldest wife with my left hand and a jug of water in my right hand, I gave away my wife to the man. In making this gift of my wife to the man, I remained completely unmoved, unaffected. This is the third wonder.

(4) I have resolved to use all my wealth jointly with people of good moral character. This is the fourth wonder.

(5) I always approach a bhikkhu with all due respect, never without reverence; if the bhikkhu gives me a talk on Dhamma, I listen to his discourse with respect only, never without reverence; if the bhikkhu does not give me a talk on Dhamma, I give him a discourse. This is the fifth wonder.

(6) Whenever I invite the Sangha to my house to make some offerings, Devas would come ahead of them and inform me: ‘Householder, such and such bhikkhus are enlightened, noble persons, Ariyas; such and such bhikkhus are ordinary persons of morality; such and such bhikkhus are devoid of morality.’ That the devas come and give me this prior information about the bhikkhus is nothing surprising to me; the wonder is that when I make offering of meals or material things to the Sangha such thoughts as ‘I will offer much to this individual because he is an enlightened noble person, of good morality; or I will offer little to this individual since he is of poor morality’ would never occur to me. As a matter of fact, without differentiation as to who is noble, who is moral or who is immoral, I make my offerings impartially to each and every body. This is the sixth wonder.

(7) Venerable sir, Devas come and tell me that the doctrine of the Buddha is well-taught, it has the merit of being well-taught. This news conveyed to me by the Devas is nothing surprising to me. The wonder is that, on such occasions, I tell the Devas in reply, “Devas, whether you tell me so or not, verily, the doctrine of the Buddha is well-taught; (He believes that the doctrine of the Buddha is well-taught, not because the Devas tell him, but because he himself knows it to be so). Although I hold such communications with Devas, I feel no pride in that the Devas come to me and that I have conversations with them. This is the seventh wonder.

(8) There is nothing surprising too, if I should pass away before the Bhagava did and the Bhagava would foretell: ‘the householder Ugga has completely destroyed the lower Five Fetters which lead to rebirth in the lower sensuous realms; he is an Anagami’. Even before the Buddha’s prediction, I have become an Anagami and I have already known this. This is the eighth wonder.

Of these eight wonders described by the Householder Ugga, the sixth is concerned with making impartial offerings to the noble, the moral or the immoral alike. It is necessary to know how one can be impartially minded in such circumstances. The impartial attitude can be under stood to be brought about in this manner, ‘As I have made the invitation with intention to give to the Sangha, the whole Order, when I make the offering to a noble one, 1 will not recognise him as such; I will not consider that I am making the offering to a noble one; I will keep in mind only that I am making my offering to the Sangha, the noble disciples of the Buddha as a whole. And when I make the offering to an immoral person, I will not recognise him as such; I will not consider that I am making the offering to an immoral person; I will keep in mind only that I am making an offering to the Sangha, the noble disciples of the Buddha as a whole. In this manner, impartiality may be maintained.

Emulating the example set by the Householder Ugga, when making an offering one should ignore the status of the recipient, keep aside personal feelings towards him, and strive to keep firmly in mind only the Order of bhikkhus as a whole, so that his dana may be of the noble Sanghika dana type. As taught explicitly by the Buddha in the Dakkhina -Vibhanga Sutta mentioned above, when an offering is of Sanghika type, that is with the whole community of bhikkhus in mind when making it, it could bring innumerable, inestimable benefits to the donor, even if the recipient is an immoral person devoid of virtues.

An offering is of Sanghika-dana type when it is made with full reverence to the Sangha; but it is not always easy to do so., Suppose a person decides to make a Sanghika type of offering, having made the necessary preparations, he goes to a monastery and addresses the bhikkhus: ‘Reverend Sirs, I wish to make a Sanghika type of offering; may you designate someone from amongst the Sangha as its representative’. Should the bhikkhus nominate a novice whose turn it is to represent the Sangha, the donor is likely to be displeased; should they choose an elderly Thera of long standing to represent them, he is likely to be overwhelmed with intense delight, exulting ‘I have an elderly Thera of long standing as my donee’. Such generosity affected by the personality of the donee cannot be a perfect Sanghika type of offering.

Only if one can accept the representative nominated by turn by the Sangha without any misgiving and without concerning oneself about whether the recipient is a novice or a bhikkhu, a young bhikkhu or an elderly bhikkhu, an ignorant bhikkhu or a learned bhikkhu, and makes one’s offering, thinking only ‘I make my offering to the Sangha’, with full reverence to the Sangha, one makes a truly Sanghika dana.

Story concerning a donor of a monastery

This incident happened on the other side of the ocean, i.e. in India. A rich householder who had already donated a monastery intended to make an offering to the Sangha. After making necessary preparations, he went to the Order of bhikkhus and addressed them, ‘Venerable sirs, may you designate someone to receive my offering for the Sangha’. It happened that it was the turn of an immoral bhikkhu to represent the Sangha for alms. Although the man knew well that the designated bhikkhu was immoral, he treated him with full respect: the seat for the bhikkhu was prepared as for a ceremonious occasion, decorated with a canopy overhead, and scented with flowers and perfumes. He washed the feet of the bhikkhu and anointed them with oil very reverentially as if he were attending upon the person of the Buddha himself. He then made his offering to the bhikkhu paying full homage to the Sangha.

That afternoon, the immoral bhikkhu came back to his house and standing at the doorway asked for a hoe he needed to make some repairs in the monastery. The donor of the monastery did not even bother to get up from his seat; he simply pushed the hoe towards the bhikkhu with his feet. The members of his family asked of him:

“Respected sir, this morning you had heaped upon this bhikkhu so much veneration that beggars description; now you have shown him not even a small part of that deference. Why is this difference between the morning and the afternoon in your attitude towards the bhikkhu?” The man replied, “My dear ones, the respect I was showing this morning was towards the Sangha not to this immoral bhikkhu”.

Some notable points for consideration concerning offerings made to individual, Puggalika-dana, and to the Sangha, Sanghika-Dana

There are some people who maintain that if some person should approach one for alms and if one knew beforehand that the person was of bad morality, one should not make any offering to that person; if one should do so, it would be like watering a poisonous plant.

But it could not be said that every act of offering made knowingly to immoral persons is blameworthy. It is the volition of the giver that must be taken into account here. If the donor should approve of the bad habits of the recipient and give with a view to give him support and encouragement for continuance of his immoral practices, then only his gift would be like watering a poisonous plant. It the donor does not approve of the bad habits to the recipient and has no mind to encourage him to continue with his bad practices, but emulating the example of the monastery donor described above, if he makes his gift in such a way that it becomes a true Sanghika-dana, then no blame can be attached to such an offering.

Again there are some who maintain that whether the recipient is of good moral character or bad moral character is no concern of the donor’s; it only concerns the recipient. Therefore, remaining indifferent to the character of the recipient, whether good or bad, the donor should give bearing in mind, ‘This is a noble person, an ariya (or an Arahat)’. They maintain that this act of offering is blameless and as fruitful as making an offering to an Arahat. This point of view is also untenable.

Disciples of other teachers who are not in a position to know whether a person is an Ariya, or an Arahat, wrongly believe their teachers to be Noble Ones, enlightened Arahats. This sort of belief called Micchadhimokkha, making the wrong decision or conclusion, is demeritorious. Surely it would be demeritorious and would be making a wrong decision if one were to bear in mind ‘these are noble, enlightened Arahats’ when one knew full well that they were not. It is not proper, therefore, to hold such ‘views.

When faced with such recipients in making one’s offering, the proper attitude to bear in mind should be “Bodhisattas in fulfilment of Perfection of Generosity make their offering without discriminating between persons of high, medium or low status or development. I will also emulate the examples of the Bodhisattas and make my offerings to whoever comes for them without discrimination. In this way, one would not be giving support and encouragement to the practice of bad habits and would not be ‘making wrong decisions or conclusions about the recipients’ development; the act of offering would thus be free from blame or fault.

Controversies and difficulties arise only in the case of offerings made to individuals, puggalika – dana, because there exist various kind of individuals, good or bad; in the case of offerings made to the Sangha, Sanghika-dana, there exists only one kind of Sangha, not two-good and bad. (Here the noble disciples of the Buddha, the Ariyas, are meant). There is no distinction amongst the Ariya Sangha as high, medium or low status or development, they are all equally noble. Therefore, as explained above, whenever a donee appears before one, without taking into consideration his character, one should make the offering with the thought ‘I make my offering to the disciples of the Buddha, the noble community of bhikkhus’. Then this offering is of Sanghika-dana type and the recipient is the Sangha; the person who appears before him to receive the offering is merely the representative of the Sangha. However low that person may be in his morals, the true recipient of the offering is the noble Sangha and therefore this is truly a noble gift.

Some people consider that it is very difficult to put into actual practice the advice to ignore the personal character of the immoral recipient who has appeared before one and to make one’s offering with the mind directed not to him but to the noble Sangha, regarding him only as a representative of the Sangha. The difficulty arises only because of lack of habitual practice in such matters. In making reverential vows to the images and statues of the Buddha, regarding them as the Buddha’s representatives, one is so accustomed to the practice of projecting one’s mind from the images and statues to the person of the living Buddha that no one says it is difficult. Just as the householder Ugga of the Buddha’s time and the monastery donor of Jambu Dipa had habituated themselves to make offerings to, an immoral bhikkhu as a representative of the Buddha, so also Buddhists of modern times should discipline their mind to become accustomed to such an attitude.

Four kinds of offerings to the Sangha as described in the Vinaya Pitaka

The Vinaya Pitaka, the Book of Discipline for members of the Order, gives a description of the four categories of offerings made intentionally for the Sangha. But these four categories of Sanghika-dana do not concern the lay donor; only the seven types of Sanghika-dana mentioned above concern them. The Vinaya distinctions are made for the Order only so that they would know how to distribute the offerings amongst themselves. The four categories

(1) Sammukhibhuta Sanghika. Offerings to be distributed amongst the Sangha who are actually present at the time and place. Suppose an offering of robes is made at a certain place in towns or villages where some bhikkhus have gathered together, and the offering is made to the noble Sangha as a whole by the donor saying ‘I give to the Sangha’. It will be difficult to reach all the noble Sanghas in the town or the village concerned. The distribution is, therefore, to be made amongst the Sangha present at the place at the time. Hence it is called Sammukhibhuta Sanghika (Sammukhibhuta – present at the time and place; Sanghika – belonging to the Sangha.)

(2) Aramattha Sanghika. Offerings to be distributed amongst the Sangha residing in the whole compound of the monastery. Suppose a donor comes into the compound of a monastery and makes an offering of robes to a bhikkhu or bhikkhus whom he meets, saying ‘I give to the Sangha’. As the offering is made within the compound of the monastery, it belongs to all the Sangha residing in the whole compound of the monastery, not just to the bhikkhus who are in the vicinity. Hence it is called Aramattha Sanghika (Aramattha-residing in the compound; Sanghika-belonging to the Sangha.)

(3) Gatagata Sanghika. Offerings which belong to the Sangha of whichever place they (have gone to) have been taken to. Suppose a donor comes to a monastery where a solitary bhikkhu resides and makes an offering of one hundred robes, saying ‘I give to the Sangha’. If the residing bhikkhu is well-versed in the Disciplinary rules, he can take possession of all the offerings for himself by simply remarking, ‘At the present moment, in this monastery, I am the sole Sangha; all these one hundred robes, therefore, belong to me and I take possession of them’. He has the right (according to the Vinaya rules) to do so; he cannot be faulted for monopolizing the offering made to the Sangha. If the bhikkhu is not proficient in Vinaya rules, he would not know what to do. And without resolving, determining ‘I am the sole owner, I take possession of them’, suppose he left for another place taking the robes with him, and the bhikkhus he met there should ask him how he came by the robes. Suppose, on learning how he had come by them, those bhikkhus claimed their share of the robes, saying, we also have the claim on them’, and consequently all the robes were divided equally with them. Then this sharing of the robes is deemed to be a good one. But suppose, without sharing the robes, he should continue on his way and encounter other bhikkhus, these bhikkhus would also be entitled to receive their share of the robes. In this way, wherever the bhikkhu would go taking the robes with him, the bhikkhus of those places would be entitled to the robes. Hence it is called Gatagata Sanghika: (Gatagata – where ever one has gone; Sanghika-belonging to the Sangha.)

(4) Catuddisa Sanghika. Offerings which belong to all bhikkhus who come from the four directions. Such offerings include gifts which are weighty and important, which are to be treated with deference, for example, monasteries. They are not to be apportioned but for use by Sangha coming from all directions. Hence it is called catuddisa Sanghika (Catuddisa-from four directions; Sanghika-belonging to the Sangha.)

Not being mindful of the fact that these four categories are mentioned in the Vinaya rules to provide measures for distinction of ownership and distribution of the offerings made to the Sangha, some (bhikkhus) make use of these Vinaya provisions when lay people make offerings. To give an illustration, suppose a donor actuated by pious devotion to a certain bhikkhu builds a monastery, though not intending for him, but for the whole Sangha. For the libation ceremony, he invited ten bhikkhus including the bhikkhu to whom he has so much devotion. After recitation of the Parittas *, when the time comes for actual announcement of the offer, the bhikkhu wants to be offered the monastery as a puggalika-dana; offering made to a particular individual because he feels that living in a monastery meant for the whole Sangha entails so much liabilities and responsibilities. But the donor prefers to make it a

• * Parittas: lit, protection; it is a Buddhist custom to recite certain Suttas such as Mangala, Ratana, Metta, etc. to ward off evil influences.

Sanghika-dana because, he believes, such dana is superior and of much merit. The congregation resolves the disagreement between the donor and his preceptor by asking the donor to make the offering saying, ‘I give this monastery to the Sangha who is present here now’ (Sammukhibhuta Sangha). Then nine bhikkhus of the congregation, saying to the remaining one, ‘We relinquish all our right of possession of the monastery to your reverence’, hand over the new monastery to him and leave.

In this manner such procedures are liable to be followed, believing that by so doing the donor’s wish for a Sanghika- dana is fulfilled and the recipient who prefers individual ownership is also happy since the nine co-owners have relinquished their right of possession of the monastery making him the sole owner.

But in reality, such a procedure is not proper and should not be followed. The gift of a monastery is a weighty, important one; the ten bhikkhus to whom the monastery has been offered cannot make any kind of apportionment of the offering between them; and the donor’s gift amounts to be only a gift to the ten bhikkhus present on the occasion only and not to the Sangha as a whole.

(20) Offerings to be made on specific occasions (Kala dana); offerings which may be made at any time (akala-dana). Offering of Kathina robes at the end of the Buddhist lent for the duration of one month, offering of robes at the beginning of the Buddhist Lent, offering of dietary food to the sick, offering of food to visiting bhikkhus, offering of food to bhikkhus setting out on a journey are gifts made at a specific time for a specific purpose and are called timely gifts, Kala-dana; all other gifts made as one wishes without reference to any particular time are called Akala-dana.

Kala-dana is of greater merit than the Akala- type because the offering is made to meet the specific needs at a specific time. The Kala type of dana, at the time of its fruition, brings specific good results at the time they are needed. For example, if the donor wishes for something special to eat, his wish is immediately fulfilled; likewise if he wishes to have some special clothes to wear, he will. receive them. These are examples of special merit that accrues from offerings made at specific times to meet specific needs.

(21) Offerings made in the presence of the donor, (Paccakkha-dana); Offerings made in the absence of the donor, (Apaccakkha-dana). The Pali word paccakkha is made up of pati and akkha. Pati means towards; akkha means five senses: eye, ear, nose, tongue body. Although Paccakkha is generally ‘before the eye’, its complete meaning should be ‘perceptible to the senses’. Thus Paccakkha-dana has wider scope, not just the kind of offering which can be seen by the donor but also those which can be perceived by his other senses, i.e. by sound, by smell, by taste and by touch. In this connection, it should be noted that offerings made in the presence of the donor, Paccakkha-dana is not exactly the same as sahatthika-dana, that made with one’s own hands. Offerings made in one’s presence at one’s instance but not actually with one’s own hands are of the Anattika-dana type, offerings made at one’s request or command.

(22) Offerings which can be matched by someone else (Sadisa-dana); Offerings which cannot be matched by any one, unrivalled alms -giving, (Asadisa-dana.) When offerings are made in a spirit of competition, donors make efforts to excel their rivals in the scale and magnificence of charity. In such competitions, the offerings, that prove to be incomparable, inimitable is called unrivalled alms – giving, Asadisa dana.

According to the Dhammapada Commentary, as explained in the story of Unrivalled alms-giving in the Loka-vagga, only one donor appears dung the time of each Buddha to make an unrivalled offering. The story runs as follows:

At one time the Bhagava, after going on a long journey followed by five hundred Arahats arrived back at the Jetavana monastery. The king, Pasenadi of Kosala, honoured the Bhagava and his five hundred disciples by inviting them to the palace and offering them alms on a magnificent scale. The king invited also the people of Savatthi to his ceremony of offering so that they could watch and rejoice in his meritorious deed . The next day the people of Savatthi, rivalling the king, organized the resources of the whole city and gave offerings which surpassed those of the king’s to the Bhagava and his disciples. They invited the king to their ceremony to observe their deed and rejoice in it.

Catching the spirit of competition, the king accepted the challenge of the citizens the next day by conducting a more magnificent ceremony of offering the next day. The citizens in turn organized again another grand ceremony of offering to outdo the efforts of the king. In this manner, the keen contest between the king and his citizens went on until either side had made six offerings. (The contest still remained indecisive.)

As the seventh round came along, the royal donor was feeling despondent: “It will be very difficult to surpass the efforts of the citizens in this seventh round; and life would not be worth living, if I, the sovereign ruler of the land, were to lose to the people over whom I rule in this round’.’ (To console him), his queen, Mallika, thought out a plan by which the king could make a truly majestic offering which the people would find impossible to match. She had a grand pavillion built; five hundred great disciples of the Buddha, the Arahats, were to sit in the pavillion with five hundred princesses fanning them and spraying perfumes and scented water in the pavillion. At the back of the five hundred Arahats, there would be five hundred elephants, kneeling down and holding a white umbrella over each of the great Arahats.

As the arrangements were being made according to the above plan, they found one tame elephant short of five hundred; so they had a wild, unruly elephant notorious for its savagery placed at the back of the Venerable Angulimala and made it hold a white umbrella like other elephants. People were amazed to find this savage beast taking part in the ceremony and holding the umbrella over the head of the Venerable Angulimala in a docile manner.

After the meal had been offered to the congregation, the king declared: “I made an offering of all the things in this pavilion, allowable things as well as unallowable things.’ On this declaration, the people had to admit defeat in the contest, because they had no princesses, no white umbrellas, no elephants.

Thus the donor of the unrivalled dana at the time of the Supreme Being of the three Worlds, the Buddha Gotama, was King Pasenadi of Kosala. It should be noted that each of the other Buddha also had a donor who presented him with an incomparable, unrivalled dana.

(End of the chapter on Generosity in Groups of Twos.)

NEXT

These are the three characteristics of all conditioned phenomena in Theravada thought.

1. Anicca (impermanence): Change is. All conditioned phenomena are subject to Change, including physical characteristics, qualities, assumptions, theories, knowledge, etc. Nothing is permanent, because, for something to be permanent, there has to be an unchanging cause behind it. Since all causes are recursively bound together, there can be no ultimate unchanging cause.

2. Dukkha (suffering) – Craving causes suffering, since what is craved is transitory, changing, and perishing. The craving for impermanent things causes disappointment and sorrow. There is a tendency to label practically everything in the world, as either ‘good’, ‘comfortable’ or ‘satisfying’, as opposed to ‘bad’, ‘uncomfortable’, and ‘unsatisfying’. Since we label things in terms of ‘like’ or ‘dislike’, we create suffering for ourselves. If one succeeds in giving up the tendency to label things and free himself from the instincts that drive him towards attaining what he himself labels collectively as ‘liking’, he attains the ultimate freedom. The problem, the cause, the solution and the implementation, all of these are within oneself, not outside.

3. Anatta (not-self) – The concept ‘Anatta’ can be rendered as lack of fixed, unchanging identity; no phenomenon constitutes an individual’s permanent, essential Self. A living being is a composite of the five aggregates (khandhas), which is the physical forms (rupa), feelings or sensations (vedana), perception (sanna), mental formations (sankhara), and consciousness (vinnana), none of which can be identified as one’s Self. From the moment of conception, all entities (including all living beings) are subject to a process of continuous change. A practitioner should, on the other hand, develop and refine his or her mind to a state so as to see through this phenomenon.

Direct realization of these three characteristics leads to freedom from worldly bonds and attachments, thus leading to the state where one is completely, ultimately free, the state which is termed Nirvana, which literally means ‘Freedom’.

Statue of Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE, Afghanistan ©

Theravada (pronounced — more or less — “terra-VAH-dah”), the “Doctrine of the Elders,” is the school of Buddhism that draws its scriptural inspiration from the Tipitaka, or Pali canon, which scholars generally agree contains the earliest surviving record of the Buddha’s teachings.1 For many centuries, Theravada has been the predominant religion of continental Southeast Asia (Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, Cambodia, and Laos) and Sri Lanka. Today Theravada Buddhists number well over 100 million worldwide.2 In recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in the West.

Many Buddhisms, One Dhamma-vinaya

The Buddha — the “Awakened One” — called the religion he founded Dhamma-vinaya — “the doctrine and discipline.” To provide a social structure supportive of the practice of Dhamma-vinaya (or Dhamma for short [Sanskrit: Dharma]), and to preserve these teachings for posterity, the Buddha established the order of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns) — the Sangha — which continues to this day to pass his teachings on to subsequent generations of laypeople and monastics, alike.

As the Dhamma continued its spread across India after the Buddha’s passing, differing interpretations of the original teachings arose, which led to schisms within the Sangha and the emergence of as many as eighteen distinct sects of Buddhism.3 One of these schools eventually gave rise to a reform movement that called itself Mahayana (the “Greater Vehicle”)4 and that referred to the other schools disparagingly as Hinayana (the “Lesser Vehicle”). What we call Theravada today is the sole survivor of those early non-Mahayana schools.5 To avoid the pejorative tone implied by the terms Hinayana and Mahayana, it is common today to use more neutral language to distinguish between these two main branches of Buddhism. Because Theravada historically dominated southern Asia, it is sometimes called “Southern” Buddhism, while Mahayana, which migrated northwards from India into China, Tibet, Japan, and Korea, is known as “Northern” Buddhism.6

Pali: The Language of Theravada Buddhism

The language of the Theravada canonical texts is Pali (lit., “text”), which is based on a dialect of Middle Indo-Aryan that was probably spoken in central India during the Buddha’s time.7 Ven. Ananda, the Buddha’s cousin and close personal attendant, committed the Buddha’s sermons (suttas) to memory and thus became a living repository of these teachings.8 Shortly after the Buddha’s death (ca. 480 BCE), five hundred of the most senior monks — including Ananda — convened to recite and verify all the sermons they had heard during the Buddha’s forty-five year teaching career.9 Most of these sermons therefore begin with the disclaimer, “Evam me sutam” — “Thus have I heard.”

After the Buddha’s death the teachings continued to be passed down orally within the monastic community, in keeping with an Indian oral tradition that long predated the Buddha.10 By 250 BCE the Sangha had systematically arranged and compiled these teachings into three divisions: the Vinaya Pitaka (the “basket of discipline” — the texts concerning the rules and customs of the Sangha), the Sutta Pitaka (the “basket of discourses” — the sermons and utterances by the Buddha and his close disciples), and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (the “basket of special/higher doctrine” — a detailed psycho-philosophical analysis of the Dhamma). Together these three are known as the Tipitaka, the “three baskets.” In the third century BCE Sri Lankan monks began compiling a series of exhaustive commentaries to the Tipitaka; these were subsequently collated and translated into Pali beginning in the fifth century CE. The Tipitaka plus the post-canonical texts (commentaries, chronicles, etc.) together constitute the complete body of classical Theravada literature.

Pali was originally a spoken language with no alphabet of its own. It wasn’t until about 100 BCE that the Tipitaka was first fixed in writing, by Sri Lankan scribe-monks,11 who wrote the Pali phonetically in a form of early Brahmi script.12 Since then the Tipitaka has been transliterated into many different scripts (Devanagari, Thai, Burmese, Roman, Cyrillic, to name a few). Although English translations of the most popular Tipitaka texts abound, many students of Theravada find that learning the Pali language — even just a little bit here and there — greatly deepens their understanding and appreciation of the Buddha’s teachings.

No one can prove that the Tipitaka contains any of the words actually uttered by the historical Buddha. Practicing Buddhists have never found this problematic. Unlike the scriptures of many of the world’s great religions, the Tipitaka is not regarded as gospel, as an unassailable statement of divine truth, revealed by a prophet, to be accepted purely on faith. Instead, its teachings are meant to be assessed firsthand, to be put into practice in one’s life so that one can find out for oneself if they do, in fact, yield the promised results. It is the truth towards which the words in the Tipitaka point that ultimately matters, not the words themselves. Although scholars will continue to debate the authorship of passages from the Tipitaka for years to come (and thus miss the point of these teachings entirely), the Tipitaka will quietly continue to serve — as it has for centuries — as an indispensable guide for millions of followers in their quest for Awakening.

A Brief Summary of the Buddha’s Teachings

The Four Noble Truths

Shortly after his Awakening, the Buddha delivered his first sermon, in which he laid out the essential framework upon which all his later teachings were based. This framework consists of the Four Noble Truths, four fundamental principles of nature (Dhamma) that emerged from the Buddha’s radically honest and penetrating assessment of the human condition. He taught these truths not as metaphysical theories or as articles of faith, but as categories by which we should frame our direct experience in a way that conduces to Awakening:

1. Dukkha: suffering, unsatisfactoriness, discontent, stress;
2. The cause of dukkha: the cause of this dissatisfaction iscraving (tanha) for sensuality, for states of becoming, and states of no becoming;
3. The cessation of dukkha: the relinquishment of that craving;
4. The path of practice leading to the cessation of dukkha: the Noble Eightfold Path of right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Because of our ignorance (avijja) of these Noble Truths, because of our inexperience in framing the world in their terms, we remain bound to samsara, the wearisome cycle of birth, aging, illness, death, and rebirth. Craving propels this process onward, from one moment to the next and over the course of countless lifetimes, in accordance with kamma (Skt. karma), the universal law of cause and effect. According to this immutable law, every action that one performs in the present moment — whether by body, speech, or mind itself — eventually bears fruit according to its skillfulness: act in unskillful and harmful ways and unhappiness is bound to follow; act skillfully and happiness will ultimately ensue.13 As long as one remains ignorant of this principle, one is doomed to an aimless existence: happy one moment, in despair the next; enjoying one lifetime in heaven, the next in hell.

The Buddha discovered that gaining release from samsara requires assigning to each of the Noble Truths a specific task: the first Noble Truth is to be comprehended; the second, abandoned; the third, realized; the fourth, developed. The full realization of the third Noble Truth paves the way for Awakening: the end of ignorance, craving, suffering, and kamma itself; the direct penetration to the transcendent freedom and supreme happiness that stands as the final goal of all the Buddha’s teachings; the Unconditioned, the Deathless, Unbinding — Nibbana (Skt. Nirvana).<!– 040908 jtb: What, exactly, is the relationship between Nibbana and NT3? AG says there are basically two interpretations: (1) NT3 is Nibbana and (2) NT3 paves the way to that radical opening, which is Nibbana. Ajaan Mun made the useful observation that it makes no sense to speak of having a duty to do something to/with Nibbana. In other words, in the presence of Nibbana, you don’t realize Nibbana. So it’s more prudent to regard our duty vis-a-vis NT3 as the perfection of NT3; to perfect the practice of relinquishing clinging and craving. When NT3 has been perfected, the opening to Nibbana occurs, and we arrive at something that lies entirely outside the realm of the 4NTs. –>

The Eightfold Path and the Practice of Dhamma

Because the roots of ignorance are so intimately entwined with the fabric of the psyche, the unawakened mind is capable of deceiving itself with breathtaking ingenuity. The solution therefore requires more than simply being kind, loving, and mindful in the present moment. The practitioner must equip him- or herself with the expertise to use a range of tools to outwit, outlast, and eventually uproot the mind’s unskillful tendencies. For example, the practice of generosity (dana) erodes the heart’s habitual tendencies towards craving and teaches valuable lessons about the motivations behind, and the results of, skillful action. The practice of virtue (sila) guards one against straying wildly off-course and into harm’s way. The cultivation of goodwill (metta) helps to undermine anger’s seductive grasp. The ten recollections offer ways to alleviate doubt, bear physical pain with composure, maintain a healthy sense of self-respect, overcome laziness and complacency, and restrain oneself from unbridled lust. And there are many more skills to learn.

The good qualities that emerge and mature from these practices not only smooth the way for the journey to Nibbana; over time they have the effect of transforming the practitioner into a more generous, loving, compassionate, peaceful, and clear-headed member of society. The individual’s sincere pursuit of Awakening is thus a priceless and timely gift to a world in desperate need of help.

Discernment (pañña)

The Eightfold Path is best understood as a collection of personal qualities to be developed, rather than as a sequence of steps along a linear path. The development of right view and right resolve (the factors classically identified with wisdom and discernment) facilitates the development of right speech, action, and livelihood (the factors identified with virtue). As virtue develops so do the factors identified with concentration (right effort, mindfulness, and concentration). Likewise, as concentration matures, discernment evolves to a still deeper level. And so the process unfolds: development of one factor fosters development of the next, lifting the practitioner in an upward spiral of spiritual maturity that eventually culminates in Awakening.

The long journey to Awakening begins in earnest with the first tentative stirrings of right view — the discernment by which one recognizes the validity of the four Noble Truths and the principle of kamma. One begins to see that one’s future well-being is neither predestined by fate, nor left to the whims of a divine being or random chance. The responsibility for one’s happiness rests squarely on one’s own shoulders. Seeing this, one’s spiritual aims become suddenly clear: to relinquish the habitual unskillful tendencies of the mind in favor of skillful ones. As this right resolve grows stronger, so does the heartfelt desire to live a morally upright life, to choose one’s actions with care.

At this point many followers make the inward commitment to take the Buddha’s teachings to heart, to become “Buddhist” through the act of taking refuge in the Triple Gem: the Buddha (both the historical Buddha and one’s own innate potential for Awakening), the Dhamma (both the Buddha’s teachings and the ultimate Truth towards which they point), and the Sangha (both the unbroken monastic lineage that has preserved the teachings since the Buddha’s day, and all those who have achieved at least some degree of Awakening). With one’s feet thus planted on solid ground, and with the help of an admirable friend or teacher (kalyanamitta) to guide the way, one is now well-equipped to proceed down the Path, following in the footsteps left by the Buddha himself.

Virtue (sila)

Right view and right resolve continue to mature through the development of the path factors associated with sila, or virtue — namely, right speech, right action, and right livelihood. These are condensed into a very practical form in the five precepts, the basic code of ethical conduct to which every practicing Buddhist subscribes: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and using intoxicants. Even the monks’ complex code of 227 rules and the nuns’ 311 ultimately have these five basic precepts at their core.

Concentration (samadhi)

Having gained a foothold in the purification of one’s outward behavior through the practice of sila, the essential groundwork has been laid for delving into the most subtle and transformative aspect of the path: meditation and the development of samadhi, or concentration. This is spelled out in detail in the final three path factors: right effort, by which one learns how to favor skillful qualities of mind over unskillful ones; right mindfulness, by which one learns to keep one’s attention continually grounded in the present moment of experience; and right concentration, by which one learns to immerse the mind so thoroughly and unwaveringly in its meditation object that it enters jhana, a series of progressively deeper states of mental and physical tranquillity.

Right mindfulness and right concentration are developed in tandem through satipatthana (“frames of reference” or “foundations of mindfulness”), a systematic approach to meditation practice that embraces a wide range of skills and techniques. Of these practices, mindfulness of the body (especially mindfulness of breathing) is particularly effective at bringing into balance the twin qualities of tranquillity (samatha) and insight (vipassana), or clear-seeing. Through persistent practice, the meditator becomes more adept at bringing the combined powers of samatha-vipassana to bear in an exploration of the fundamental nature of mind and body.14 As the meditator masters the ability to frame his immediate experience in terms of anicca (inconstancy), dukkha, and anatta (not-self), even the subtlest manifestations of these three characteristics of experience are brought into exquisitely sharp focus. At the same time, the root cause of dukkha — craving — is relentlessly exposed to the light of awareness. Eventually craving is left with no place to hide, the entire karmic process that fabricates dukkha unravels, the eightfold path reaches its noble climax, and the meditator gains, at long last, his or her first unmistakable glimpse of the Unconditioned — Nibbana.

Awakening

This first enlightenment experience, known as stream-entry (sotapatti), is the first of four progressive stages of Awakening, each of which entails the irreversible shedding or weakening of several fetters (samyojana), the manifestations of ignorance that bind a person to the cycle of birth and death. Stream-entry marks an unprecedented and radical turning point both in the practitioner’s current life and in the entirety of his or her long journey in samsara. For it is at this point that any lingering doubts about the truth of the Buddha’s teachings disappear; it is at this point that any belief in the purifying efficacy of rites and rituals evaporates; and it is at this point that the long-cherished notion of an abiding personal “self” falls away. The stream-enterer is said to be assured of no more than seven future rebirths (all of them favorable) before eventually attaining full Awakening.

But full Awakening is still a long way off. As the practitioner presses on with renewed diligence, he or she passes through two more significant landmarks: once-returning (sakadagati), which is accompanied by the weakening of the fetters of sensual desire and ill-will, and non-returning (agati), in which these two fetters are uprooted altogether. The final stage of Awakening — arahatta — occurs when even the most refined and subtle levels of craving and conceit are irrevocably extinguished. At this point the practitioner — now an arahant, or “worthy one” — arrives at the end-point of the Buddha’s teaching. With ignorance, suffering, stress, and rebirth having all come to their end, the arahant at last can utter the victory cry first proclaimed by the Buddha upon his Awakening:

The arahant lives out the remainder of his or her life inwardly enjoying the bliss of Nibbana, secure at last from the possibility of any future rebirth. When the arahant’s aeons-long trail of past kamma eventually unwinds to its end, the arahant dies and he or she enters into parinibbana — total Unbinding. Although language utterly fails at describing this extraordinary event, the Buddha likened it to what happens when a fire finally burns up all its fuel.

“The serious pursuit of happiness”

Buddhism is sometimes naïvely criticized as a “negative” or “pessimistic” religion and philosophy. Surely life is not all misery and disappointment: it offers many kinds of happiness and sublime joy. Why then this dreary Buddhist obsession with unsatisfactoriness and suffering?

The Buddha based his teachings on a frank assessment of our plight as humans: there is unsatisfactoriness and suffering in the world. No one can argue this fact. Dukkha lurks behind even the highest forms of worldly pleasure and joy, for, sooner or later, as surely as night follows day, that happiness must come to an end. Were the Buddha’s teachings to stop there, we might indeed regard them as pessimistic and life as utterly hopeless. But, like a doctor who prescribes a remedy for an illness, the Buddha offers both a hope (the third Noble Truth) and a cure (the fourth). The Buddha’s teachings thus give cause for unparalleled optimism and joy. The teachings offer as their reward the noblest, truest kind of happiness, and give profound value and meaning to an otherwise grim existence. One modern teacher summed it up well: “Buddhism is the serious pursuit of happiness.”

Theravada Comes West

Until the late 19th century, the teachings of Theravada were little known outside of southern Asia, where they had flourished for some two and one-half millennia. In the past century, however, the West has begun to take notice of Theravada’s unique spiritual legacy in its teachings of Awakening. In recent decades this interest has swelled, with the monastic Sangha from various schools within Theravada establishing dozens of monasteries across Europe and North America. Increasing numbers of lay meditation centers, founded and operated independently of the monastic Sangha, strain to meet the demands of lay men and women — Buddhist and otherwise — seeking to learn selected aspects of the Buddha’s teachings.

The turn of the 21^st century presents both opportunities and dangers for Theravada in the West: Will the Buddha’s teachings be patiently studied and put into practice, and allowed to establish deep roots in Western soil, for the benefit of many generations to come? Will the current popular Western climate of “openness” and cross-fertilization between spiritual traditions lead to the emergence of a strong new form of Buddhist practice unique to the modern era, or will it simply lead to confusion and the dilution of these priceless teachings? These are open questions; only time will tell.

Spiritual teachings of every description inundate the media and the marketplace today. Many of today’s popular spiritual teachings borrow liberally from the Buddha, though only rarely do they place the Buddha’s words in their true context. Earnest seekers of truth are therefore often faced with the unsavory task of wading through fragmentary teachings of dubious accuracy. How are we to make sense of it all?

Fortunately the Buddha left us with some simple guidelines to help us navigate through this bewildering flood. Whenever you find yourself questioning the authenticity of a particular teaching, heed well the Buddha’s advice to his stepmother:

The truest test of these teachings, of course, is whether they yield the promised results in the crucible of your own heart. The Buddha presents the challenge; the rest is up to you.