What Is Accomplishment in Generosity?

And what is accomplishment in generosity?

Here, a Noble Disciple resides at home with a mind free from the stain of selfishness, freely generous, openhanded, joyful in letting go, devoted to charity, joyful in giving and sharing.

This is called accomplishment in generosity.

(Reference: AN 4.61)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how to fully develop one’s practice to experience “accomplishment in generosity”.

An uninstructed worldling is a person who is not learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings to train the mind on The Path to Enlightenment.

An instructed Noble Disciple is a Practitioner of The Buddha’s Teachings who is deeply learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings.

The Buddha explains that a Noble Disciple will “resides at home with a mind free from the stain of selfishness, freely generous, openhanded, joyful in letting go, devoted to charity, joyful in giving and sharing”.

Through cultivating the mind to live “freely generous, openhanded, joyful in letting go, devoted to charity, joyful in giving and sharing” the mind will be free from the pollution of mind or “free from the stain of selfishness”.

A Practitioner would be unable to attain Enlightenment without developing a regular, consistent, and ongoing practice of generosity.

Generosity can be practiced with our life partner, children, parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and people we have never met before. When the mind is free of selfishness, we can practice generosity through giving and sharing our time, effort, energy, and resources with anyone and everyone around us - all beings.

The mind can experience the joy of giving and sharing through letting go rather than holding on to the countless objects that the mind thinks is going to bring lasting satisfaction but never does.