The Buddha said, “When a person who practices dana [generosity and giving] comes into an assembly, other
people watch that person with admiration.” We should know that the mind of such a
person quietly reaches others. Even if we offer just one word or a verse of Dharma,
it will become a seed of goodness in this lifetime and other lives to come. Even if we
give something humble—a single penny or a stalk of grass—it will plant a root of
goodness in this and other ages. Dharma can be a material treasure, and a material
treasure can be Dharma. This depends entirely upon the giver’s vow and wish.
Offering his beard, a Chinese emperor harmonized his minister’s mind. Offering
sand, a child gained the throne. These people did not covet rewards from others. They
simply shared what they had according to their ability. To launch a boat or build a
bridge is the practice of dana paramita. When we understand the meaning of dana,
receiving a body and giving up a body are both offerings. Earning a livelihood and
managing a business are nothing other than giving. Trusting flowers to the wind, and
trusting birds to the season may also be the meritorious action of dana. When we give
and when we receive, we should study this principle: Great King Ashoka’s offering of
half a mango to hundreds of monks was a boundless offering. Not only should we urge
ourselves to make offerings, but we must not overlook any opportunity to practice
dana. Because we are blessed with the virtue of offering, we have received our
present lives.
The Buddha said, “One may offer and use one’s own gift; even more, one can pass it
to one’s parents, wife, and children.” Therefore we should know that giving to
ourselves is a kind of offering. To give to parents, wife, and children is also offering.
Whenever we can give up even one speck of dust for the practice of dana we should
quietly rejoice in it. This is because we have already correctly transmitted a virtue of
the buddhas, and because we practice one dharma of a bodhisattva for the first time.
The mind of a sentient being is difficult to change. We begin to transform the mind of
living beings by offering material things, and we resolve to continue to transform them
until they attain the Way. From the beginning we should make use of offering. This is
the reason why the first of the six paramitas is dana-paramita. The vastness or
narrowness of mind can not be measured, and the greatness or smallness of material
things can not be weighed. But there are times when our mind turns things, and there
is offering, in which things turn our mind.
https://terebess.hu/zen/dogen/KS-Bodaisatta.html
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limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆
Originally Posted by Tai Shi
