So this week,
We are exploring,
Or we're kind of beginning to explore a new theme,
And the teachings are called the Ten Paramis,
And they're often translated as the Ten Perfections,
Although that word can be completely misleading,
Like not perfections in the sense of without flaw or flawlessness,
But qualities of the heart that can be cultivated and deepened over time,
More like qualities that bring us into fullness,
Like no part left out.
And the paramis are not abstract ideals.
They're manifestations of our understanding of the practice.
They're expressions of our freedom,
The way that we change in practice and grow in spiritual life.
And this first expression is that of generosity,
The practice of giving.
This is the first teaching that the Buddha offered laypeople like us,
The practice of giving.
It's called dhāna,
D-A-N-A in Pali,
And at its most basic level,
Dhāna in the Buddhist tradition means to give freely without expecting anything in return.
So these teachings have been given freely for nearly 2,
600 years.
It's a long time.
And Insight Meditation Center,
IMC is the acronym in California,
The center that I and the teachers that come here are affiliated with,
Is a modern-day example of a culture of generosity.
For nearly 40 years,
The center hasn't charged for teachings.
There is no payment for participation.
And they offer residential retreats with no cost to participants.
So what began as a group like this one grew into a thriving community all through volunteer effort and generosity.
Like on some level in the Western Buddhist scene,
IMC represents an alternative economic model for spiritual communities.
It's kind of extraordinary.
And it's not perfect.
But when people experience a community built on voluntary contribution and care for other people,
What we can discover for ourself,
What I've discovered for myself,
Is that we can actually organize around generosity instead of scarcity.
And that is a big shift to experience.
It really feels like putting our spiritual principles into practice.
When generosity becomes part of our path,
Self-centeredness begins to loosen,
And the heart just begins to open and becomes something more.
It becomes a parmi,
An expression of our fullness.
Generosity places practice directly in the field of relationship.
It is a reminder that the practice is not just something that we do on the cushion,
But something we live with and we offer through our relationships with each other.
So sitting and getting still is an act of generosity.
Because then we go out into the world and we are relational creatures.
If we begin with meditation,
It's easy to organize the path around me and my experience and my insights and my progress.
There's nothing wrong with that,
But it can kind of tilt us towards a self-centered preoccupation.
Beginning with generosity,
It reorientates us to open into the field of relationship.
It brings us immediately into connection.
Generosity has a particular quality.
It's voluntary.
It can't be forced.
We can give with reluctance and with obligation and with expectation,
But in the truest sense,
It comes from a very different place.
It arises from openness,
From this sense of enough.
There's an enoughness,
A willingness to let go.
In many,
Many ways,
This is a practice of letting go,
To soften our grip,
Releasing our habitual contraction,
Our habit of always scratching the itch.
And as we begin to let go,
Something natural begins to emerge from that.
The impulse to care for others,
The inclination to offer this very,
Very simple generosity.
It doesn't feel like effort.
It just feels like alignment.
I think it was Ram Dass who wrote a whole book on this.
It was called How Can I Help?
It just kind of emerges as part of the practice.
And this cultivation of generosity really points us towards the fruits of this practice.
The practice is not something that we,
It's not like we're accumulating more.
It's not that.
It's actually putting down more.
And it's also,
It circulates.
The practice is a movement.
There is giving,
And there is receiving,
And giving and receiving,
And giving and receiving.
And this is the wheel of the dharma.
The giving and receiving is the wheel of the dharma.
And when generosity is connected with wisdom,
There is this enough,
This deep sense of enough.
Not just materially,
But like inward.
Like a,
It's like a feeling of sufficiency.
We are enough.
There is enough.
And I would say in my own experience that that experience is also a movement.
Because sometimes that's not what we experience.
We experience ourselves as insufficient.
You know,
Many of us have tasted this,
Even if it's brief,
You know.
The ease that comes with sufficiency,
Enoughness.
Just a sense of a shared participation in something.
I think that that's,
I really experience that when I'm sitting with you all in the morning.
And we,
Maybe I open my eyes for a moment and just sort of see who's in the room.
And I feel that shared sense of participation.
And it's really,
It grounds me.
It's like,
Ah,
Yes,
This is what we're doing together.
It's very generous,
You showing up for yourself,
For this community.
And part of the practice,
This is kind of the important part I want to leave you with.
Part of the practice is also to be curious about the places where generosity doesn't come so easily.
You know,
Where we hold back.
Where there is fear,
Or where there is scarcity,
Or a preoccupation.
You know,
Pause for a moment and just notice.
Where are you less generous?
And also,
Notice this story.
Because without,
Like,
I am less generous here because,
That kind of drops right in.
There's a reason,
There's a justification.
Notice that.
Not,
Don't judge it.
Not as judgment,
But just as a place to learn.
What is the story that you're telling yourself about not being generous?
These are the edges of the practice.
Where we see clearly and gently where we close.
And let's just kind of,
Like,
See that.
It's okay.
This is a discovery on how to open.
There's a very simple image that I really appreciate.
And many of you know that I teach from this place of,
Like,
If we hold something tightly in a closed fist.
You know,
I talk a lot about the closed fist.
That's one way to live.
This tight,
Closed fist.
But to give,
We have to open the hand.
And once the hand is open,
It's also available to receive.
So generosity is the beginning of the journey.
Not because it's easy,
But because it's foundational.
So the invitation in the next couple of days is you might let generosity be your practice.
And it doesn't require any grand act.
Just simply.
You know,
Simple,
Ordinary acts.
Maybe you pick up a coffee for a friend or bring food.
Or you help your neighbor bring in their trash cans.
Or offer something anonymously.
That's always lovely.
Or,
You know,
It could be a smile to a stranger.
To a person that is often not seen.
And as you offer generosity,
Notice what is the experience offering you back?
What is the state of mind?
What beliefs or habits are shaping your relationship to generosity?
And where does it feel really easy?
And where does it feel really difficult?
But I think most importantly is when you're offering generosity,
What's being received?
And in this way,
We begin to really experience the benefits of practice.
To see that giving and receiving are not separate.
They move together and they are intimately intertwined.
And perhaps you will also experience being the still point in the center of the wheel.
Just in the movement of giving and receiving.
