Alms-People

Just as the willingness to both give and receive is a mark of any sound human relationship, the giving and receiving of alms ( free-will offering of material support) has always been a part of most cultures.

It centres people around kindness and humility and reminds us that although we are all subject to the changeable fortune of the world, our values and relatedness can remain constant. For this reason, alms-round ( ’pindapada’= ‘scrap-gathering’) is the heart of the livelihood of a Buddhist monastic (or ‘samana’). We are alms-people, not ‘monks’ or ‘nuns’, and certainly not priests.

To rely for sustenance on what arises through bringing one’s presence as a Gone Forth person into the market place takes trust in humanity. In fact just being in the market place and yet not a part of it entails the faith that the disturbance of one’s presence will generate some positive ripples. So alms-rounds set a lot of nerve endings twitching – for both the samana and the townsfolk.

Maybe out of what turns up, one’s needs will be met. And if not, then through being open and upright, one’s mind will at least be clear, undistracted and free from craving. Because when you practise this, any craving for food, or even to get away from the public gaze, stands out so starkly as the creator of suffering and stress that you have to let it go.

Instead you just maintain presence.

This reflection by Ajahn Sucitto is from the Blog Post “Alms and the Man,” Sunday, May 31, 2009.