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Click-a-Sermon 1: "Giving of non-giving"

6 Paramita --Reaching the Other Shore

Buddhists observe the fall equinox week (September 20-26), or the Buddhist Ohigan holiday, which means "the Other Shore" or time to recall those who have passed on, as well as to place our own lives in proper perspective to lead us properly someday to "THE OTHER SHORE."

Coupled with the notion of OHIGAN in Buddhism is the practice of the 6 paramitas (ways to reach the Other Shore) or virtues leading to Enlightenment. These consist of perfecting the virtues of: 1) giving, 2) self-discipline, 3) patience, 4) effort, 5) meditation and 6) wisdom.

If we examine the first "giving", perhaps we might all imagine what it entails. Primarily we will think the virtue of "giving" entails the donation of money - money to the charities that care for the sick and the needy, money to support religion and education and perhaps even money to help friends or encourage our children. A bit more difficult notion of "giving" is the "giving" of ourselves. - of our precious time and effort. And, of course, once we enter into the spirit of thinking about the meaning of "giving" we will undoubtedly come up with dozens of other notions of the meaning of "giving". Such is well and good. But the real meaning of the first paramita of "giving" means the PERFECTION of giving. This is far more complex than the simple notion of "giving".

What is the "perfection of giving"? In Buddhism, the perfection of giving, entails "the giving of non-giving." That, of course, sounds like a paradox and the contemporary world has little patience in dealing with paradoxes. But in this instance, the meaning of "the giving of non-giving" is worth spending time to consider.

Whenever we give, either financially or otherwise, we take a certain pride in what we have done. This increases as we go so far as to "give of ourselves." Consciously or unconsciously we expect some form of reward for what we have done.

How often does a spouse or parent scream "what I have sacrificed for you!" to family members? And how insulted are huge donors to charitable or religious institutions if their names are misspelled or worse yet, not even listed. And isn't "ingratitude" one of the worst words in the English language? And , of course, we have not even mentioned the situation of those who by giving of themselves to help the needy or promote social justice secretly imagine themselves to be either saints or martyrs. None of such represents the perfection of giving or "the giving of non-giving".

The "giving of non-giving" is when we as humans realized our innate responsibility to the Reality and all the sentient beings surrounding us. When we attain such a realization we will spontaneously respond by giving of our financial means or ourselves with no expectation of gratitude, reward or honors either here or in the after-world. That is the meaning of "the giving of non-giving", which is the "perfection of giving."

Let us contemplate on the true sprit of Buddhist giving, which is one of the bridges between this Shore and the Other Shore.