The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
23 December 2023
Q: What must we prepare before offering dāna so that we don’t have any kilesa in our mind?
Than Ajahn: When you give something you have to have the feeling of wanting to give and you have to let it go. Don’t cling to what you’ve given away. Don't worry about what the receiver will do to your gift. You give for the benefit of the receiver, and once the receiver receives it then it’s no longer your business.
You want to give in order to open up your heart, to make your heart becomes kind, compassionate and loving to other people—this is the purpose of giving.
You have to give without attachment to what you give.
Don't worry about what the receiver would do to what you give because sometimes the receiver might not use what you give but that’s not your business anymore.
Just give and be happy. Don’t worry about what happens to the gift that you have given away. Once you gave it away, it is no longer belong to you. This will prevent you from having defilements coming up.
Sometimes people give and they expect the receiver to use it or to eat it, and when the receiver doesn’t do it then the giver becomes sad.
So you should give with a pure mind, having no expectation from the receiver. You shouldn’t even expect a word of thank you or appreciation. You shouldn’t expect anything because if you expect something from the receiver, when you don't get it, you can become sad or disappointed instead of being happy.
But of course you should consider before giving things to the person that you want to give to whether they’re worthy of the gift or not, whether they are good or not, whether they are in need or not, for instance.
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Q: In order for the dāna to be of a high meritorious value, the donor has to be of a morally good person and the receiver also has to be at a high level of morality then this is the most purified form of dāna, is this so?
Than Ajahn: It doesn’t matter what the morality of the giver or the receiver is as far as dāna is concerned. You can be a thief and if you give something away, you can still receive the result of that giving which is a feeling of happiness inside yourself. So this has nothing to do with the morality of the giver or receiver.
When you say morality, it only means that if you give something to someone who is morally good then that person will do something good with what you’ve given to him. You are supporting a good person. If you give money to a thief then you’re supporting that thief to do more bad things.
There are many consequences of your dana i.e. the consequences that happen to the giver and the consequences that happen to the receiver. They are different. When you give, the giver feels good. The receiver will also feel good if the gift is something that the receiver can use or can make the receiver’s life better.
“Dhamma in English, Jul 18, 2023.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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