“If you expect returns, it is not called giving, it is trading.”

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

26 February 2024

“If you expect returns, it is not called giving, it is trading.”

Question:  When I donate $10 (which is about 10% of my wealth) and my friend donates $500 which is a fraction of his million dollar wealth, do we get the same merits?

Than Ajahn:  No, the feeling is different. When you give more, you feel happier, when you gave less, then you feel less happy. So it depends on how much you have, the percentage of what you give. If you were a millionaire, say if you have 100 million baht and you give one million baht, you give away 1% of your wealth. If you have 100,000 baht and if you give away 10,000 baht, it means you give away 10% of your wealth. The effect on your mind is different. When you give 10% of your wealth, it is a lot more than giving 1% of your wealth. 

So the result on the mind is different too. For someone who gave 10%, the mind feels happier even though the amount is not as much as the one who gave 1%. It is not the absolute amount, but the percentage of what you have that makes the difference on your mind. 

The resultant impact on your next life depends on how much you gave. If you gave one million, you will get five million back, if you give 100k you will get 500k back. So if you give more, you will get more results when you come back. It is like the King Vessantara, he gave away everything and when he died he went to heaven and after he came back from heaven he was reborn as prince Siddharta who became the Lord Buddha. 

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Question:  My friend is a person who is not ready to listen to higher Dhamma practice but he likes to do dāna to monks and temples and in turn wishes that he has good health, abundance of wealth or winning a lottery. How does this compare to someone who just donate to beggars or animals where one does not wish for any returns. Do they get the same merits?

Than Ajahn:  Whether you get more merits depends on what you desire for. If you give without any desire, you get more merits. If you give and you desire for returns, then you have less merits because sometimes when you don’t get what you want, you feel bad. 

And instead of feeling good from giving, you feel bad. 

So if you don’t have any desire for returns then you won’t feel bad, you will feel happy. It depends on your expectations. If you have expectation, the less merits you get. If you don’t have expectation, you get 100% merits, you feel happy. So ideally, you give without any expectation for rewards or returns because when you expect returns, you have defilements (kilesa), it is lobha and having lobha will make you unhappy. 

If you expect returns, it is not called giving, it is trading, like buying or selling. I give you this much and you give me this much back, like when you go to the store and you give the shop owner some money and he gives you something back, so this is trading, it is not dāna. Dāna is a one way street, it is the act of giving and not taking and if you are still taking, it means you are not giving. The result (of your giving) is automatic and comes from your mind. When you sacrifice you feel good. 

When you don’t sacrifice you don’t feel good.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Youtube: Dhamma in English

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g