I have always been interested in the fact that the whole of our monastic structure is founded on generosity.

Monks and nuns could not exist if it were not for the generosity of lay people. The Buddha recognised that one of the greatest causes of human misery is selfishness, the desire to obtain more and more things and the fear of not having enough, or losing what we have. As soon as we start practising generosity, sharing what we have with others, we find that in fact there is always enough. We also discover that the heart is nourished in a quite particular way when we start to be generous.

In some Buddhist traditions they have a custom of putting a little of the food they receive to one side for the hungry ghosts. Once when I was living in the forest at Chithurst, I decided to experiment with this practice and to share a little of my food each day with the animals in the forest. It was very interesting to notice the sense of pleasure that came from putting a little of each of the types of food to one side, even the things that I really liked. Even when there was less than I would have liked normally, it felt really good to share what I had.

There’s a story from the time of the Buddha about a very wise lady called Visakha. Once she decided to invite the Buddha and the monks to a meal at her house. When the meal was ready she sent her maid to go and invite the monks to come. As the maid was going to the park where the monks were, there was a terrific rainstorm. The monks had taken off their robes and they were just standing in the rain, enjoying the rain falling on them.

The maid came to the park and saw all these people standing there with no clothes on. She went back to Visakha and said, ‘Sorry. I couldn’t find the monks. There was just a group of naked ascetics.’ Visakha realised what might have happened. She was very clever. By then, the rain had stopped, so she said, ‘The rain has stopped, now go and invite them.’

Eventually the monks came to her house. After she had offered the food, she said to the Buddha, ‘I’d like to ask eight special favours.’ So the Buddha said, ‘What would you like?’ Visakha said, ‘I’d like to be able to provide bathing cloths for the Sangha to wear, because nakedness is improper.’ Then she went on to list other things that she wanted to offer, for instance special food for those who were sick and for those looking after them; food for those who were setting off on a journey and for those who had just arrived in the city; and a constant supply of rice gruel, which is a very pleasant medicinal food. There were eight requests in all.

The Buddha said, ‘That’s wonderful, but what benefit do you see for yourself in that?’ Visakha said, ‘Many monks and nuns come to this place, and when I hear that they have done well in their practice I shall feel pleased. I’ll feel happy. When I’m happy my body will become relaxed. I’ll experience a sense of ease and well-being. When I’m in a state of ease and well-being, my mind will become concentrated. That will support the arising of the enlightenment factors. These are the benefits I see.

I find this an interesting story because it shows that from something very simple like a generous action, there is a natural progression, leading to perfect liberation. A similar process is described when the Venerable Ananda asks the Buddha about the benefits of sila (morality). The Buddha’s response was that because of sila there would be the absence of remorse; that would bring about a feeling of gladness - and then the same progression, step by step.

This reflection by Ajahn Candasiri is from the book Simple Kindness, “Right Intention,” (pdf) pp. 74-76.