Buddhist Charity

Buddhist charity has four aspects:

1. Giving
2. Generosity
3. Equanimity
4. Morality

First, there are three kinds of giving:

1. The Giving of Wealth: To give material things such money or things, including one’s own body. This type of giving provides necessities to others to sustain their physical life.
2. The Giving of Dharma: To explain the principles to others and help them understand. This nurtures their wisdom life.
3. The Giving of Fearlessness: To do whatever it takes to dispel others’ fears and anxieties. This sustains faith and restores dignity.

Giving is critical to building blessings which will lead one to renounce stinginess and unfold wisdom.

The next Buddhist charity is Generosity: To give liberally or repeatedly. Please refer to another Dharma Talk on generosity. Generosity enables us to more effectively detach.

Equanimity is the absence of discrimination. We do not discriminate between friend and foe, close and far, good and evil, black and white, etc. We should practice charity with a non- calculating mind. This minimizes jealousy from the receivers’ part and diminishes the ego’s excessive tendency to demand to be in control.

The last is Morality: To do no evil and to do only good. This is the basis for all charitable activities. After all, charity is constructive and not destructive, selfless and not egocentric.

Ultimately, we should practice charity until “the three wheels are empty”:

1. The Giver: There is no one who is giving. We are no longer attached to giving.
2. The Recipient: There is no one who is receiving. We are no longer attached to the person receiving our charity.
3. The Gift: There is nothing being given. We can detach from our possessions.​

At that point, we’ve perfected Buddhist charity. That is liberation. That is true happiness.