Four Worthy Deeds to Be Undertaken with Wealth

Householder, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, the Noble Disciple undertakes four worthy deeds.

What four?

(1) Here, Householder, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, the Noble Disciple makes himself content and pleased and properly maintains himself in contentedness; he makes his parents content and pleased and properly maintains them in contentedness; he makes his wife and children, his slaves, workers, and servants content and pleased and properly maintains them in contentedness; he makes his friends and companions content and pleased and properly maintains them in contentedness.

This is the first case of wealth that has gone to good use, that has been properly utilized and used for a worthy cause.

(2) Again, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, the Noble Disciple makes provisions against the losses that might arise from fire, floods, Kings, thieves, or displeasing heirs; he makes himself secure against them.

This is the second case of wealth that has gone to good use, that has been properly employed and used for a worthy cause.

(3) Again, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, the Noble Disciple makes the five offerings: to relatives, guests, ancestors, the King, and the deities.

This is the third case of wealth that has gone to good use, that has been properly employed and used for a worthy cause.

(4) Again, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, the Noble Disciple establishes an uplifting offering of alms (a donation) — an offering that is heavenly, resulting in contentedness, conducive to heaven — to those Ascetics and Brāhmins who refrain from intoxication and heedlessness, who are settled in patience and gentleness, who tame the mind, calm the mind, and train the mind for Nibbāna (Enlightenment).

This is the fourth case of wealth that has gone to good use, that has been properly employed and used for a worthy cause.

These, Householder, are the four worthy deeds that the Noble Disciple undertakes with wealth acquired by energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained.

But when anyone exhausts wealth on these four worthy deeds, that wealth is said to have gone to good use, to have been properly used, to have been utilized for a worthy cause.

(Reference: AN 4.61)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how a Student who is practicing these Teachings closely (Noble Disciple) would use wealth for wholesome purposes rather than for selfish desires.

He provides guidance in how one can ensure they are applying wealth towards wholesome activities that will produce wholesome results (i.e. wholesome Kamma).

Each of the “four worthy deeds” would ensure a Practitioner is attending to their “needs” and not their “wants”. Through the mind chasing its wants, an individual can oftentimes become wasteful and irresponsible with the wealth they are acquiring. In doing so, one would find it difficult to sustain their life and provide for those who need their support.

(1) First, Gotama Buddha encourages us to ensure we have attended to our own needs. He explains that a Practitioner should “make himself content and pleased and properly maintains himself in contentedness”. An individual needs five (5) basic necessities to sustain life. Food, water, clothing, shelter, and medical care is what is needed to sustain human life. Having these five (5) necessities taken care of, a wise Practitioner would then look to ensure they have taken care of their other responsibilities rather than use wealth unwisely through wasteful or irresponsible spending.

Parents, life partners, children, employees, friends, and companions are the next on the list of individuals The Buddha suggests one should ensure are taken care of with the basic necessities to sustain life. These are the individuals that are closest to you and ensure your success and continued growth of your wealth. Without ensuring these individuals are well cared for, one would find it extremely difficult to continue their success in the world acquiring income to sustain your life. Ensuring one’s parents, life partners, children, employees, friends, and companions are all cared for and well established in contentedness through having the basic necessities to sustain life, a Practitioner can then continue to be met with success in their professional life.

(2) Second, Gotama Buddha encourages us to ensure we have protected our wealth from events that could significantly affect our wealth or growth of wealth. Disasters such as fire and floods could wipe away one’s wealth should they not have adequate protection. In today’s society, this might include properly allocating wealth towards institutions that are capable of overseeing one’s wealth and helping it to grow. This might include a bank, financial institution, insurance, safety deposit vaults, or other ways to protect one’s wealth.

Protecting one’s wealth from Kings could be looked upon as ensuring one has made proper decisions towards allocating money based on government laws to pay one’s fair share of taxes. Should a Practitioner choose not to allocate wealth towards the support of government services, the community would gradually crumble creating an environment that is not supportive of continued growth for humanity.

Protecting one’s wealth from thieves would be to ensure there are safeguards in place that a thief would be unable to wipe out one’s wealth through stealing. During Gotama Buddha’s lifetime, life was very basic compared to today’s standards. It would not be uncommon for someone to store their money in their home and for a thief to potentially cause a family ruin through stealing their accumulated money stored in just one central location. Today, we have many ways to ensure that one is well protected from scams and thieves who are looking to steal from you and your family. When one has applied good practices to protect one’s wealth, the mind can reside peaceful knowing that a thief is unable to wipe out your family’s savings.

Protecting one’s wealth from displeasing heirs might include ensuring one has a will that documents what should and should not happen to your wealth upon death while ensuring your relatives are well aware of how you have allocated your wealth upon your death. Through clear communication in a written will and communicating with relatives prior to death, there will be no surprises upon your death and your wealth will not meet with hotly contested legal battles after your death. Through a properly formed will and thorough communication, a Practitioner can ensure a family is not divided and separated based on surprises at the time of death.

(3) Third, Gotama Buddha encourages us to ensure we have made offerings to relatives, guests, ancestors, the King (Government), and deities. This would help to further ensure one has shared their wealth with individuals who have close proximity to you and your wealth would help to provide beneficial outcomes (i.e. wholesome Kamma). Relatives and guests are individuals who you will need to ensure are cared for while visiting your home. This does not necessarily need to include the giving of money but might include offering food and water to provide for comfort during a visit to your home.

Today, we pay regular taxes to the government ensuring we are paying our fair share. I am unsure exactly how Gotama Buddha would have suggested one share wealth with deities as he did not teach any rites, rituals, ceremonies, or worship of deities. I suggest one could disregard any interest to share one’s wealth with deities as there are many other wholesome uses that would provide more wholesome results.

(4) Fourth, Gotama Buddha encourages us to ensure we make offerings to Ascetics (Ordained Practitioners) and Brāhmins (Priests) as these are the individuals who are leading a purified holy life to the highest degree. Through sharing wealth with Ascetics and Brāhmins in the community, one is ensuring these wholesome Teachings make their way into your community for the benefit of you and others. It is only through the practice of generosity that these Teachings will continue to be supported throughout humanity and continue to have the ability to positively influence our lives through more and more people learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings.

Notice that while Gotama Buddha lived his life after the Royal Palace through the generosity and kindness of Household Practitioners making offerings, he placed himself as last who you should share your wealth. While it is important that these Teachings are supported in the world, he shared three (3) other worthy deeds to allocate wealth, with his own cause to share these Teachings as being last.

During Gotama Buddha’s lifetime, he guided Ordained Practitioners to not accept money as an offering. It was only food, water, clothing, shelter, and medical care that was offered to sustain his life and the life of those who were his closest Students - the Ordained Practitioners. This helped Ordained Practitioners to eliminate craving/desire/attachment to wealth.

Offerings to Teachers who are sharing these Teachings does not need to be exclusively monetary offerings. While financial support is needed to provide the freedom to produce resources for the continued sharing of these Teachings, a Student can also offer food, water, clothing, shelter, medical care, books, and other supplies along with your time, effort, and energy to support the continued sharing of these Teachings.

Many of us are interested in helping improve the world but lack the wisdom of how to accomplish that goal. It is the wisdom found in these Teachings that will help all of humanity to create a kinder and more peaceful society. Through supporting Teachers who are sharing these Teachings, you can ensure that you and others will continue to learn and progress through developing a solid foundation in these Teachings. You are only receiving these Teachings now due to the generosity and support provided by countless individuals over the past 2,500 years. Any offerings you make to support these Teachings will then ensure these Teachings are available for future generations just like they are being made available to you.

If regular and continued donations to Teachers that assist them in sustaining their life and to provide the needed resources to share these Teachings were not provided, all of humanity would be lost and unable to develop their life practice to experience Enlightenment. The world would continue to become a darker place to exist. It is only when Practitioners choose to provide regular and consistent ongoing support that a Teacher is then able to sustain their life with the basic necessities of life and then direct their effort and energy towards sharing the wisdom of these Teachings with you.

Please support those who are sharing these Teachings into the world who you observe are doing so through virtuous moral conduct. Using discernment (wise decision making) a Practitioner can practice generosity to share their wealth with those “who refrain from intoxication and heedlessness, who are settled in patience and gentleness, who tame the mind, calm the mind, and train the mind for Nibbāna (Enlightenment)”.

Through supporting these individuals with your donations of time, effort, energy, and resources you will be helping all of humanity.