The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart
28 April 2023
Question: When I feel inspired, I make a promise to contribute to a cause which may cost a lot of money, but after some time, when the feeling disappears, I feel a little stingy as I have to part with so much money. And after I tallied my monthly expenses, I realized that a big portion of my salary went to donation. I felt happy about it, but I also felt some form of stinginess and attachment. I seek Ajahn’s advice on how to skillfully deal with this?
Than Ajahn: When you do charity, you shouldn’t do it on impulse. You should do it on rationality. You have to think through whether you really want to do it or not, or whether you can afford to do it or not.
Once you have decided that the donation is for a good cause and you want to do it, and you have the resources to do it, then do it! And then, forget about it; don’t have a second thought. Because you can always look at the cause that you are supporting which can always make you happy and it won’t make you change your mind.
You take your time to think about it first. Don’t do it on impulse. Ask yourself, ‘Do I really want to do it?
Can I really afford it? Is it a good cause that I will always be happy with it every time I think of it?’ If you think that it’s really for a good cause, for example, if you are supporting the hospital, so every time when you think of what the hospital can do for people, it will always make you happy. So, you have to know what you are doing and how much you can give.
Question: Nowadays at work, I try to see myself as a form of giving as well. Sometimes, it gets stressful but I try to view it as a contribution to the society and helping my colleagues. When I do this, it does make me feel happy as well.
Than Ajahn: May be. But to be really considered as charity, you shouldn’t get anything in return, like salary. You should do it for free, then you are really doing charity. If you are still getting salary, you are not really doing a charity, you are doing a trading. You work for the company, and the company pays you salary—this is trading, not charity. Charity is one way street. You give away something and don’t get anything back in return, except the feeling of satisfaction that you have done something noble: this is charity.
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Question: If a guy, who has more than $100 in his savings, donates $100 to the Sangha community, vs a lady, who only has $1 in her savings, and donates her only $1, who will receive more merit?
Than Ajahn: There are two types of merits. One of them is the merit you feel inside yourself which depends on the percentage of your sacrifice. If you sacrifice or give away 100% of your possession, then you’ll get maximum feeling of satisfaction in your mind. If you only give 50% of your wealth, then you’ll only have 50% satisfaction in your mind.
So in this case, the lady gave 100% of her wealth, even though it was just $1, she got 100% satisfaction or happiness; while the other person gave away half of his possession, i.e. he has $200 and gave away $100, he only gave 50% of his wealth, then he’d only get 50% of satisfaction.
“Dhamma in English, Oct 12, 2021.”
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Question: An advanced practitioner who earns 1,000 can easily give away 100. Another person who isn’t an advanced practitioner, who earns the same 1,000 but lives in an expensive lifestyle, feels the pain when he gives 10 or 20. Does that mean the one who gives just 10 or 20 have more merit because it’s more painful for him?
Than Ajahn: I don’t think so. It’s just that he cannot afford to give more because he spends more on some other things. That’s all. And it’s painful because he doesn’t want to give. He used it for other things and he doesn’t feel painful, because the other things are something he likes to get. So, it doesn’t mean that the more painful you feel when you give dāna, the more merit you’ll get.
The more happiness you feel when you give dāna, then the more merit you make. If you give 10 or 20, and you don’t feel happy, then giving 100 or 200 will make you happier. If you feel painful when giving dāna, it means you have attachment to your money. You don’t want to give money on dāna, but you are happy to spend it on yourself. It means the person has no parami—the person has no ability to give, the person doesn’t like to give; every time when the person has to give money away to charity, he feels painful.
“Dhamma in English, Sep 19, 2021.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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