Dana
Generosity Practice
In the Buddhist tradition, the teachings are given freely because they are considered priceless; in the Buddhist tradition we also practice dana, or generosity, by making monetary offerings for the teachings. Dana is not payment for goods or services rendered; it is given from the heart. Your generosity is a gift that supports not just the teachers, but also the Sangha, the larger Dharma community, and your own practice. Dana is gratefully accepted.
Sutta No. 26 From Itivuttaka Pāli
“If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of selfishness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared, if there were someone to receive their gift. But because beings do not know, as I know, the results of giving and sharing, they eat without having given. The stain of selfishness overcomes their minds.”
If beings knew
what the Great Seer said,
how the result of sharing
has such great fruit,
then, subduing the stain of selfishness
with brightened awareness,
they’d give in season to the noble ones,
where a gift bears great fruit.
Having given food as an offering
to those worthy of offerings,
many donors, when they pass away from here,
the human state, go to heaven.
They, having gone there to heaven,
rejoice, enjoying sensual pleasures.
Unselfish, they partake
of the result of sharing.