Giving

But here, Student, some man or woman gives food, drink, clothing, carriages, garlands, scents, ointments, beds, dwelling, and lamps to Ascetics or Brāhmins. Because of performing and undertaking such action, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world. But if instead he comes back to the human state, then wherever he is reborn he is wealthy.

(Reference: MN 135)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how a being who practices generosity, should they not attain Enlightenment in this life, will be reborn in an improved destination in their next life.

The practice of generosity helps a Practitioner to eliminate craving/desire/attachment. It is craving/desire/attachment that is the cause of all discontentedness in the mind. An individual is causing their own discontent feelings due to one’s craving/desire/attachment. To eliminate discontentedness, a Practitioner needs to train the mind to eliminate craving/desire/attachment. This is shared as part of The Four Noble Truths to establish Right View.

Having eliminated craving/desire/attachment, not only will the Practitioner experience Enlightenment where the mind is peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy permanently, but they will have also solved the much bigger problem of constantly be reborn through continuous rounds of rebirth in The Cycle of Rebirth.

An Enlightened being will know the mind is Enlightened because they will no longer experience any discontentedness. As the mind is gradually trained in the direction of Enlightenment, there will be a slow and gradual diminishing of discontentedness to ultimately result in the complete elimination of all discontentedness. The Practitioner can observe this for themselves as the condition of the mind gradually improves.

Through not believing in any of The Buddha’s Teachings but instead, learning, reflecting, and practicing to acquire wisdom, the mind can be gradually trained to no longer experience discontentedness through the elimination of craving/desire/attachment.

One of the major ways of practice to train the mind to eliminate craving/desire/attachment, the mind’s mental longing with a strong eagerness, is to train the mind to be willing to “give and share” eliminating selfishness.

Through developing a continuous, regular, and ongoing practice of generosity, along with other training, a Practitioner can completely eliminate craving/desire/attachment to eliminate discontentedness.

The unEnlightened mind is going to chase after the objects of its affection thinking that the next new shining object waiting around the corner is going to lead to lasting fulfillment. The unEnlightened mind will cling to what it has accumulated including its time, effort, energy, and resources such as possessions, wealth, relationships, etc. The mind can become obsessed and selfish tightly holding on to the objects of its affection.

Through training the mind to “give and share”, the mind can be trained to “let go” of its tendency to “hold on” to the objects of its affection thinking that these things will bring lasting satisfaction and fulfillment. Through the mind eliminating its craving/desire/attachment, a Practitioner can reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy. Generosity, and other practices, is what will lead to the results of a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy as the mind gradually eliminates craving/desire/attachment.

Without a practice of generosity to train the mind to regularly “give and share”, the mind will retain its selfishness continuing to experience repeated discontentedness and rounds of rebirth.

Craving/desire/attachment is the cause of discontentedness and the cause of rebirth. Through diminishing craving, a being will experience an improved rebirth. Through eliminating craving, a Practitioner will experience Enlightenment and there will be no further rebirth in any realm of existence.

The goal of these Teachings and The Path to Enlightenment is to eliminate all pollution of mind to experience Enlightenment and no longer be reborn in any realm of existence. But, should a Practitioner not accomplish this goal, then The Buddha is explaining that through the diminishing of craving/desire/attachment by practicing generosity, there will be an improved rebirth in one’s next birth.

As one learns The Buddha’s Teachings regarding The Cycle of Rebirth, they should always keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to attain Enlightenment and not experience rebirth. Therefore, when The Buddha is sharing what will or will not occur based on decisions in this life, he is not attempting to guilt, shame, or fear anyone into certain decisions nor dangle a reward for certain decisions. Instead, he is just sharing the truth of what will and will not occur while providing guidance of how to avoid any and all rebirth through the attainment of Enlightenment.

A Buddha’s Teachings lead to liberation of mind, Enlightenment. The mind will be peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - free of all strong feelings. The goal is not to be reborn, however, Students are oftentimes interested to know what would occur if one does not attain Enlightenment. Therefore, a Buddha needs to share those Teachings and since The Cycle of Rebirth is part of The Natural Laws of Existence of what exists in this world, a Buddha will need to share this aspect of Teachings to help Practitioners fully understand The Path to Enlightenment.

A Practitioner should be sure to explore Chapters within this book series prior to learning in this book.

Detailed explanation of Generosity and Merit is available in this same book series found in Chapters 10 and 14 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).