SuttaCentral
Hi all,
It’s said the best thing we can do when we perform generosity, for example, is not asking anything in return. At the same time, doing wholesome deeds may lead to well-being and happiness. Often when we do wholesome deeds we make aspiration in the mind: may we be free from such and such suffering e.g. cured from certain illness, etc… It’s said even Nibbana is something needs to be aspired too.
How can we both make aspiration and “not asking anything in return” at the same time?
humans are often contradictory and inconsistent, Richard Gombrich in his “Buddhist Precept and Practice” differentiate between cognitive and affective religion, where the former is what’s perceived as doctrinal standard and the latter as what’s actually being practised
did the Buddha prescribe to aspire to certain personal benefits in performing acts of generosity?
Where is this said?
As far as I can tell, the problem disappears when this claim is set aside. Maybe it needs to be specified that generosity isn’t generosity when it’s tit-for-tat, but again, there’s no problem here if that’s how it’s understood.
That means the goal of the generosity matters, the motive for it; the quoted line, above, isn’t accurate.
AN 7.52 says
is the best motivation for giving.
I think when we initially start to be generous we need reasons to satisfy our intellectual mind, then only we can do it fully without doubt. But after we get used to be generous, it’s becomes second nature and there’s no longer need for reasons to be generous. By then if someone asked “hey why are are so generous?”, you’d say “what generous? Why are you so stingy?”. Does this make sense?
Ultimately, a person who lets go of everything should also have no aspirations, and when it happens, it means you are on the Other Shore. Still, to get the we need to use all possible means.
I forgot, which sutta it was, but the Buddha said once that even conceit can be beneficial for practice. One thinks ‘How come this guy is so advanced in his practice and is so much revered by everyone and I, who am so awesome and great, am not?’, and after practicing abandons conceit. Having lowly or selfish motives for generosity isn’t great and should not be endorsed but they can paradoxically help you on the Path.
this is Ven Ananda’s statement
‘This body comes into being through conceit. And yet it is by relying on conceit that conceit is to be abandoned.’ Thus was it said. And in reference to what was it said? There is the case, sister, where a monk hears, ‘The monk named such-and-such, they say, through the ending of the fermentations, has entered & remains in the fermentation-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having known & realized them for himself in the here & now.’ The thought occurs to him, ‘The monk named such-and-such, they say, through the ending of the fermentations, has entered & remains in the fermentation-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having known & realized them for himself in the here & now. Then why not me?’ Then he eventually abandons conceit, having relied on conceit. ‘This body comes into being through conceit. And yet it is by relying on conceit that conceit is to be abandoned.’
AN 4.159
What I’ve noticed, is that a lot of practitioners seem to try to mimic advanced stages on the Path, as though they’re trying to act the role until it’s natural.
For example, we know conceit is eventually going to need to get dropped - but, it’s still around even for non-returners. Nevertheless, when people try doing X or Y practice I hear a lot of talk about avoiding conceit…
That’s putting the cart before the horse.
On the other hand, they still should be trying to get rid of conceit. Avoiding conceit is one thing, thinking that you are free from it is another - it is ironically your conceit speaking. A more healthier way would be to avoid conceit but not be overly surprised when you find out it is still there.
Not sakkaya-ditthi, of course; these seem to be confused with each other a lot.
(And of course: is it only Ananda who ever says this? Where else does this idea show up in the Suttas?)
I think Sutta doesn’t talk about everything.
But I came across this link , you can have a look, The Value of Giving:
"It is maintained that if a person makes an aspiration to be born in a particular place after giving alms, the aspiration will be fulfilled only if he is virtuous, but not otherwise ".
"Alms given without any expectations whatsoever can lead to birth in the Brahma-world, at the end of which one may become a non-returner ".
When giving without expectation is the best form of giving then why we should make aspirations when we perform wholesome deeds?
The first is a paraphrase of AN 8.35, the second is of AN 7.52 already referenced by Raivo
whos is this recommendation?
On aspirations, see MN 126, the Bhumijasutta. The version to which this link is ascribed uses the term “wishes”, though the teaching I received via Ayya Vayama, aspirations was used, most likely from Bhikku Bodhi’s translation.
:anjal: