瑜伽師地論 菩薩地 · 施品

In one line: Giving is the first of the six perfections, and it sets up the "nine aspects" as the common frame of the six perfections; and the perfection of giving lies not in the thing but in the heart — its essence is "the volition arising together with non-attachment + the two kinds of action of body and speech," its function is "skillful wisdom" distinguishing what ought and ought not to be given, and its ultimate is the purity of the three spheres, dedication to awakening, and the upholding of non-outflowing wisdom (the three spheres being Dharma-conforming are but the provision for freedom from desire; the true path of purity is non-outflowing wisdom).

Three points of the eye:

1. The nine aspects as the common frame of the six perfections · giving of intrinsic nature = the volition arising together with non-attachment (the eye): the nine aspects of giving (intrinsic nature / all / difficult / all-gateway / good-person / all-kinds / request-fulfilling / happiness of both worlds / pure 〔0505a28 uddāna〕) — the ancient master, the Tripiṭaka-master: "the lower five perfections explain the three 'all's' · to be understood by analogy" 〔Dunlun 0530b〕: the Chapter on Giving sets up the model for the six perfections. The essence of giving of intrinsic nature = the volition arising together with non-attachment + the two kinds of action of body and speech (volition as essence · non-attachment as concomitant · body-and-speech as function · the giving of Dharma and the giving of fearlessness likewise possess the three kinds of action and non-attachment 〔this treatise 0505b06 · Dunlun 0530c06 · Kuiji citing the Abhidharmasamuccaya-vyākhyā 12, 0144a28〕); abiding in moral restraint · the āgama view (Kuiji takes the sense of cause and fruit) · the view that there is definitely a fruit.

2. Giving of all = what ought and ought not to be given + skillful wisdom (the eye): the great passage on giving of all (inner and outer objects of giving · the two forms of giving the inner body / outer things) = what ought and ought not to be given (poison, fire, blade, liquor for harmful use — do not give · father, mother, teacher, elder — definitely do not give · do not forcibly compel wife and children, servants and maids · do not give things of idle amusement and no meaning · do not give the cage, net, fowling-net, snare for catching fish or netting deer 〔Dunlun 0531a20〕) + giving by skillful wisdom (two who ask — first the one in danger and hardship / the miserly household — draw them in to rejoice and plant the seed of relinquishing miserliness / no wealth — the crafts, little effort much wealth / the giving of Dharma — selecting the vessel · giving-by-skillful-means-of-not-giving = pure giving relinquished to the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions · the simile of the bhikṣu's pure robes). Giving is steered by wisdom · not answering every request.

3. The four counteragents to the obstacles to giving · the three givings · the ten marks of purity (the eye): the four obstacles to giving (not having practiced beforehand / the object of giving scarce and wanting / attachment to the excellent and fine / seeing and delighting in the fruit of wealth to come 〔0508c29〕 · Woncheuk explains their essence = the incapacity upon the seeds / the five aggregates and twelve links / surpassing greed / the wrong view that seeks a fruit to come 〔Dunlun 0532a20〕) · the four counteracting knowledges (awakening / enduring the many sufferings / thoroughly knowing the topsy-turvy / seeing that the nature of all conditioned things is without firmness · the first three for rightly practicing giving, the last for taking up the fruit 〔0509b08〕). The three givings (wealth / fearlessness / Dharma · wealth and fearlessness for ease in this world · the giving of Dharma for the world to come 〔0510a01〕). The ten marks of pure giving (without lingering delay / without grasping / without hoarding / without lifting oneself up / without reliance / without timid shrinking / without lowliness / without turning-toward-and-away / without hope of a return for kindness / without wishing for its maturation 〔0510a13〕) · the three spheres being Dharma-conforming are but the provision for freedom from desire · the true path of purity is non-outflowing wisdom 〔Dunlun 0531b10〕 · all dedicated to unsurpassed awakening.

Appended pointers:

• Receives the Chapter on the Lineage of Power (giving heading the four means of gathering); the nine aspects as the common frame of the six perfections · the lower discipline, patience, vigor, meditative absorption, and wisdom by analogy 〔Dunlun 0530b〕; the three spheres as provision · non-outflowing wisdom receives the non-conceptual knowledge of the Chapter on Reality; giving is an instrument for bringing sentient beings to maturity in the Chapter on Maturation. Next comes the Chapter on Discipline (the second of the six perfections · the threefold pure discipline).
• Giving of intrinsic nature as the volition arising together with non-attachment · the nine aspects running through the six perfections · giving with unobstructed understanding (Jing / Tai / Kuiji) · the essence of the four obstacles to giving (Woncheuk) · the dispute over the sequence of the three givings (the old master Yuan · fearlessness first, the giving of Dharma last) · the three matters as provision, not the true path of purity — see the Apparatus, heading three · heading four; recorded only, not adjudicated.
• Alternate translations: Dharmakṣema's Chapter on Giving, ninth (the nine aspect-names differing · good person / all conduct / dispelling vexation · no uddāna · the four obstacles to giving · the four counteragents as discernment, enduring suffering, knowing the topsy-turvy grasping, observing conduct without firmness) · Guṇavarman's Chapter on Giving, tenth (giving of nature = the five aggregates · all self / for dispelling / self-benefit-and-other-benefit / stillness · the four kinds of harmful-giving mind · the giving of wealth impure, the giving of Dharma pure); the Section on Ascertainment ascertaining six chapters — giving and the rest — not following the nine aspects · re-ascertaining by seven kinds of purity × ten marks (the purity of knowledge re-ascertaining the essential-character exposition-of-the-term differences · the purity of stains re-ascertaining the four kinds of obstacle · pointing back to the ten-mark pure giving of the Basic Section · drawing on the Sūtra of the Five Kinds of Fault / the Śṛgālaka Sūtra) (the Apparatus, heading two).

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Overall Heading: The Six Perfections and the Nine Aspects of Giving

This is the ninth chapter, the Chapter on Giving, within the First Section of the fifteenth stage in the Basic Section, the Bodhisattva Stage.

When a bodhisattva has, in sequence, fulfilled the six perfections (pāramitā), he is then able to realize the unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening — namely the perfection of giving (dāna), the perfection of discipline, the perfection of patience, the perfection of vigor, the perfection of meditative absorption, and the perfection of wisdom. What is the bodhisattva's perfection of giving? A summary verse (uddāna) says: intrinsic nature, all, the difficult, all gateways, the good person, all kinds, fulfilling requests, the happiness of both worlds, purity — these nine aspects are giving, stated in brief. That is to say, giving under these nine aspects is named the bodhisattva's perfection of giving: (1) giving of intrinsic nature, (2) giving of all, (3) difficult giving, (4) all-gateway giving, (5) good-person giving, (6) all-kinds giving, (7) request-fulfilling giving, (8) giving that brings happiness in this world and the next, (9) pure giving.

One · Giving of Intrinsic Nature

What is the bodhisattva's giving of intrinsic nature? It is that the bodhisattvas, holding neither their own person nor their possessions in any regard, are able to give all that ought to be given. That volition (the mind's intending) which arises together with non-attachment, and the two kinds of action — of body and of speech — which are set in motion thereby and which are able to give all blameless objects of giving, abiding in moral restraint, abiding in the "āgama view" (the view transmitted in the holy teaching) and the "view that there is definitely a fruit" (deep trust that giving must have its fruit): in accordance with whatever is requested, one gives by means of these objects. This, one should know, is named the bodhisattva's giving of intrinsic nature.

Two · Giving of All

As for "all," in brief there are two kinds: first, inner objects of giving; second, outer objects of giving. If a bodhisattva gives away only his own body, this is giving inner objects of giving only. If a bodhisattva, out of pity for beings who "live by eating what is vomited," repeatedly eats and then vomits out what he has eaten and drunk and gives it to them, this is mixed giving of both inner and outer objects of giving. If a bodhisattva, apart from what is stated above, gives all the other objects of giving that ought to be given, this is giving outer objects of giving only.

Thus, giving only one's own body is called giving inner objects only; repeatedly eating and then vomiting food and drink to give out of pity for beings who live by eating vomit is called mixed giving of inner and outer objects; apart from these, giving all other things that ought to be given is called giving outer objects only.

Two forms of giving the inner body: The bodhisattva, again, gives his own body to those who ask, in brief under two forms. The first is "those who ask for the whole body": he gives his body to another, following the other's wishes, bound to him and complying with him — just as a person, for the sake of food and clothing, forces himself to serve another as a servant; so too the bodhisattva, with a mind free of craving, solely in order to realize supreme awakening swiftly, solely for the benefit and ease of beings, and solely that the perfection of giving may swiftly be fulfilled, gives his body to another. The second is "those who ask separately for a hand, a foot, the head, the eyes, a limb or joint, blood, flesh, sinew, bone, or even the marrow": in accordance with whatever they wish, he gives all.

That is, to one who asks for the whole body, the bodhisattva gives the entire body, to act as the other wishes, bound to and complying with him; to one who asks separately for a bodily part, the bodhisattva gives, as requested, a hand, foot, head, eye, limb, blood, flesh, sinew, bone, or even marrow. This is called the bodhisattva's giving the inner body to those who ask under two forms.

Two forms of giving outer things: The bodhisattva, again, gives outer things to beings under two forms. The first is "those who ask for enjoyment": he lets them have whatever they need, to be enjoyed as they please. The second is "those who ask for mastery": he cuts off all clinging in his own mind and gives it all away.

For one who asks for enjoyment, allowing him to use the thing according to his need and pleasure is the first form of giving outer things. For one who asks for mastery, cutting off every sense of ownership in one's own mind and handing the thing over entirely is the second form. This is called the bodhisattva's giving outer things to beings under two forms.

What ought and ought not to be given (general statement): The bodhisattva does not, without distinction, give all kinds — every inner and outer object of giving — to beings; rather, with the various inner and outer things, toward beings he either gives or does not give. What counts as giving? What counts as not giving? If the bodhisattva knows that the various inner and outer things will, for a certain being, "only make him at ease but bring him no benefit," or "neither at ease nor benefited," then he does not give them. If he knows that for a certain being they will "definitely bring benefit, though not certainly ease," or "definitely bring benefit and definitely bring ease," then he gives them at once.

What ought and ought not to be given (extended discussion):

(The inner body) If someone comes to ask him to be a companion, intending to go and unreasonably oppress, harm, or deceive another, the bodhisattva does not give his body to him or follow his wishes — the bodhisattva would rather give away his own body and life for beings a hundred times, a thousand times, even a hundred thousand times over, than ever follow another's bidding and, to win that other's favor, go and unreasonably oppress, harm, or deceive beings. If the bodhisattva's intention in the giving he practices is pure, and he rightly sees immeasurable deeds of benefiting beings present before him, then even if someone comes to ask for his own limbs and joints, he ought not to give them. It is not that the bodhisattva's intention is impure, or that his mind grows timid and shrinks back so that he thinks "this may be given, this may not be given"; rather it is this: one whose intention is not yet pure must set aside the deed of benefiting beings present before him and give away the parts of his body (so as to make his intention pure); one whose intention is already pure ought not to cast aside the deed of benefiting beings present before him for the sake of giving away the parts of his body. If the host of Māra's gods, harboring a mind bent on vexation and disturbance, come before him to beg for the parts and limbs of his body, he ought not to cut apart his limbs and give them — lest thereby they incur grave sin and suffer harm (the same holds for beings dispatched by Māra). Or there may be beings, deranged and disordered in mind, who come to ask for the parts of his body; these too he ought not to cut apart and give — for such a one does not abide in a mind of self-nature, does not beg for the sake of meaning and benefit, his mind being deranged and not in its own control, empty of all but various floating and false utterances. Only for those who come to ask for the limbs of his body other than as stated above, and contrary to the above, does he then, in accordance with their wishes, give his body or cut apart and give a limb. This is named the bodhisattva's what-ought-and-ought-not-to-be-given regarding inner objects of giving.

(Outer things) As for the bodhisattva and outer things: if beings come to ask for poison, fire, a blade, liquor, and the like, in order to harm themselves or harm others, he ought not to give them; only if it is to benefit themselves or benefit others ought he to give. The bodhisattva does not give away things belonging to another that have not been consented to; he does not act as a matchmaker, nor give away another's wife or concubine; he does not give away food or drink and the like that contain worms. If beings come to ask for various things "that draw them into idle amusement, that draw them into what is meaningless," he ought not to give — for though the giving may briefly make them glad, it makes them broadly do unbeneficial deeds, do much wanton and evil conduct, and fall into the evil destinies; but if that instrument of amusement will not make beings fall into the evil destinies and will not increase their roots of non-virtue, then the bodhisattva, in order thereby to draw them in, benefit them, cause pure faith to arise in their minds, and make them easy to guide and bring to maturity, gives it as requested. The bodhisattva never gives anyone "the methods of hunting and the like"; regarding the deeds in defiled sacrificial rites that gather many beings, take life, and incur sin, he never does them himself nor teaches others to do them, nor does he slaughter sheep in temple-sacrifice at a god's shrine; if someone comes to ask for the dwelling-places on which water-borne and land-borne beings depend (in order to take their lives), he never gives them; if someone comes to ask for the cage, the net, the fowling-net, or the snare (in order to harm beings or to practice such skills), he gives none of them; if an enemy comes to ask in order to requite a grudge (to revile, to bind and imprison, to kill, to seize wealth, to punish), he never gives. In sum, whatever instruments of amusement and the like can oppress and harm sentient beings — to whoever comes asking, he gives none of them. As for elephants, horses, carriages and palanquins, clothing and adornments, rare and fine food and drink, instruments of song and dance and music, perfume-paste and flower-garlands, precious playthings and various goods, gardens and groves and terraced towers, houses and dwellings and serving-women, and the various workshops of the crafts — such instruments of amusement, in order to make another give rise to pure faith toward the bodhisattva, to whoever comes asking he gives them all.

(Unsuitable giving) If a sick person comes to ask for food or drink that is not in the right measure or not suitable, he does not give it; if a being, already sated with food, is by nature much given to greed and repeatedly asks for rare and fine food and drink, he does not give it; if a being, pressed by grief and sorrow, seeks to kill or wound himself (to eat poison, hurl himself from a cliff, throw himself into a chasm, cast himself into fire), in none of these ought he to give what is wished. If someone comes to ask for one's father, mother, teacher, or elder, definitely he ought not to give them — for the bodhisattva, toward his father, mother, teacher, and elder, and even toward one who has shown him the least kindness, through the long night thinks to bear them upon his head, ever keeping his own person bound to them and in compliance with them, submitting even to their slaughtering, beating, binding, or selling him; he dares not privately harbor a mind to give them away, how much less openly give them to one who comes asking. If the bodhisattva becomes a consecrated, sovereign king ruling over a region, he never wrests away the wives and children of his ministers and people to give to another; only villages, towns, hamlets, and lands — whether whole or in part — does he bestow in giving, and he tells them: "As I have graciously governed you, so too you should govern them." Toward his own wife and children, servants and maids, attendants, kinsfolk, and dependents, if the bodhisattva has not first, with right words, made things clear to them and made them glad, he never forcibly compels them, causing them grief and distress, to be given to those who come asking; and even if he has first made things clear to them and made them glad and willing, still he does not give them to enemies, evil friends, yakṣas, rākṣasas, or those of cruel and violent work; nor does he give away males or females of good family who are soft and weak in appearance to those who come asking, to be made servants and maids. If those who greatly oppress and vex beings, delighting in cruel and evil deeds, come to ask for the kingly throne, he never gives it — for if such a cruel and evil one already occupies the kingly throne, the bodhisattva, having the power, ought even to depose him, how much less give it to him. The bodhisattva never seizes and takes the wealth of his father, mother, wife, children, servants, maids, and kin to go and practice giving, nor does he oppress and vex them so as to give what is theirs to those who come asking. The bodhisattva practices giving with wealth accumulated by right means, without sudden violence; he does not practice giving by what is contrary to the Dharma, by sudden violence, or by oppressing, harming, and vexing others. If the bodhisattva has gone forth within the Buddha's holy teaching, he never transgresses the training-precepts in order to give.

(The disposition in giving) When the bodhisattva practices giving, toward all sentient beings he raises an even mind and, abiding in "the thought of a field of merit," gives — never distinguishing between enemy, kin, and the indifferent, between the virtuous and the faulty, the inferior and the superior, those with suffering and those with happiness. As the bodhisattva has previously stated and previously promised, he never gives less to those who come asking; only equal or more does he give. He never first promises fine and excellent goods and then gives the lowly; only, having first promised the lowly, if fine and excellent things be at hand, does he afterward give the fine and excellent. The bodhisattva does not give with a divided mind, nor with a mind muddied by anger. Having given, he never praises himself or repeatedly tells others "I once gave to you thus, drew you in, rescued and delivered you." Even toward the base and lowly he dares not, without respect, fling a thing at them to give; how much less toward the virtuous. If those who come asking abide in various transgressions and wrong conduct, are restless and agitated, do not guard themselves, and are wholly given to reviling, wrath, anger, and rebuke, the bodhisattva never gives to such a one with a mind of weariness; only, understanding well that he is beguiled by the afflictions, and wishing to make him change his original nature, does he give while abiding in a mind of even deeper pity. The bodhisattva does not give out of an evil view falsely grasped (as in those vast and cruel sacrificial rites), does not reckon "giving by killing living beings" to be the Dharma, and does not falsely take up signs of auspicious omen when he gives. The bodhisattva never falsely reckons that "to give solely with utterly good and pure giving of all kinds is itself the purity of freedom from desire, mundane and supramundane"; only does he carefully understand that the giving he practices is but "the provision for the purity of freedom from desire." The bodhisattva does not give with a view to its fruit; all his giving is for the sake of dedication toward the swift realization of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. The bodhisattva, truly understanding all the classes of giving he practices and all the classes of the maturation of the fruit of giving, gives rise to deep faith and conviction, and gives not on account of another's condition, not drawn on by another — namely: giving food and drink can bring about great strength, giving clothing can bring about fine complexion, giving carriages can bring about ease, giving lamps and light can bring about pure eyes, and so on for the like, which should be understood in full. The bodhisattva does not give out of dread of his own poverty; only out of an intention of compassion and pity for beings does he give.

(Unbefitting giving · what the bodhisattva does not do) Toward those who come asking, the bodhisattva never gives what is unbefitting to give: such as giving a renunciant the leftover of food and drink, or things mixed and defiled with excrement, mucus and spittle, vomit, pus and blood, and the like; nor does he, without announcing it, without letting it be known, give gruel and rice and the like as though casting them away as refuse — namely, giving to one who does not eat scallion food and drink mixed and defiled with scallion, giving to one who does not eat meat food and drink mixed and defiled with meat, giving to one who does not drink liquor food and drink mixed and defiled with liquor; or handling the business in an unbefitting manner when he gives. Such unbefitting giving as this, the bodhisattva does not do. The bodhisattva does not make those who ask beg again and again, come and go and become intimate, follow and be bound to him, and grow weary from being kept waiting, and only then give; only, at their first coming to ask, does he then give. The bodhisattva does not give in reliance on worldly fame and acclaim, does not give in reliance on another's requital of the kindness, does not give in reliance on such fruits as [becoming] Śakra, Māra-king, wheel-turning king, or a lord of mastery, nor does he give in order to deceive and lure others (he does not give in order that kings and great ministers, the brahmins of cities and towns, wealthy elders and householders abounding in treasure, great and rich chief merchants, and givers and donors, should know that he gives and would surely respect, honor, praise, and make offerings to him). Nor does he give narrowly and meanly (though his wealth be little, still he gives with a broad mind, how much more when wealth is abundant). Nor does he give so as to deceive another (he does not first give a little to make the other cling and grow intimate, and then ruin him). Nor does he give so as to estrange another (he does not, by his giving, seek to estrange a village or town or a part thereof, to estrange a land or a part thereof, or make them turn from their lord to belong to himself). The bodhisattva, diligent and untiring, fully rousing his effort, valiant and self-disciplined, first practices giving himself and afterward exhorts others to give; he does not, being himself slack, spur others to give diligently. If an immeasurable multitude come together to beg, truly understanding whether they keep or break the precepts, he seats them in order according to their seniority, and going round from highest to lowest, back and forth, he portions out and gives until the objects of giving are exhausted. Though the bodhisattva may have at hand immeasurable and abundant wealth, he never practices "measured giving." The bodhisattva does not give so as to harm and vex another (he does not revile, beat, terrify, disgrace, bind and harm, detain and imprison, hack and stab, or drive out and banish this one so as to give to that one). Before giving the bodhisattva is glad in intention; while giving his mind is pure; after giving he has no regret. The bodhisattva does not give by flattery and deceit (he never, with false maṇi-jewels, pearls, lapis lazuli, conch and cowry, jade and gem, or coral, gives to one who hopes for genuine treasure). Whatever wealth the bodhisattva has, be it little or much, there is none over which he does not first turn his mind to give it all; toward those who come asking afterward, the bodhisattva, when he takes it, takes it as taking his own wealth, and when he gives it, gives it as returning that which is theirs. The bodhisattva gives at the fitting time, not at the unfitting time; gives with a giving pure for self and other, not impure; gives befittingly, not unbefittingly; gives with an unscattered mind, not with a scattered one. When the bodhisattva sees one who comes asking, he never sneers, never trifles with him, never makes him feel ashamed, nor frowns; rather, with open countenance and level gaze, he smiles first and speaks first, and never keeping him waiting, gives swiftly. Though another does not ask, whoever comes of himself surely has something he seeks; so, matching what he needs, the bodhisattva gives, ever letting the one who asks take it gladly of his own accord.

These restrictions on the manner of giving are each explicit: one does not make an asker return repeatedly and grow weary before giving, but gives upon the first request; one does not give for fame, repayment, the fruit of becoming Śakra, Māra, or a wheel-turning king, or to lure others; one does not give meanly, deceive another with a small gift and later ruin him, or estrange a village or land from its lord; one first gives diligently oneself and only then exhorts others, never remaining slack while spurring them on; when many come together, one distributes throughout the assembly according to discipline and seniority; even with abundant wealth one does not limit the giving; one does not harm one person through rebuke, beating, terror, humiliation, binding, or imprisonment in order to give to another; before giving one is glad, during it pure, and after it without regret; one does not pass false jewels as genuine; whatever the amount, one first mentally gives it to all, so that the asker takes it as his own and the bodhisattva returns it as the asker's property; one gives at the right time, purely, fittingly, and without distraction; one does not sneer, trifle, shame, or frown, but looks openly, smiles and speaks first, and gives swiftly; even before the other voices the request, one supplies what is needed and lets the asker take it gladly. None of these modes belonging to giving of all is dispensable.

Giving by Skillful Wisdom

The bodhisattva does not give by evil wisdom; ever does he give by skillful wisdom. What is the bodhisattva's giving by skillful wisdom?

(Two who ask) The bodhisattva, having at hand various kinds of wealth that may be given, before those who ask arrive, first rouses this thought: Suppose two who ask should come together — one "at ease, neither poor nor base, having support and refuge," the other "in danger and hardship, poor and base, without support or refuge"; then I should reckon my wealth for myself: if it can make both fully satisfied and fulfill their wishes, I will give to both and fulfill their wishes; if the wealth cannot make both satisfied, then by skillful means I will send off the one at ease, with support and refuge, and give all I have to the one in danger and hardship, without support or refuge. Having roused this thought, he then accomplishes the matter just as he purposed. To the one who asks, being at ease and so on, since he has no power to fulfill his wish, he first, by skillful means, apologizes and sends him off: "This object of my giving I have already, beforehand, set aside and promised to the one in danger and hardship, and so I now give it to him; it is not that I have no mind to give gladly to you, but only that I have no further power — may the worthy one not harbor resentment against me or turn his back on me."

(The miserly household) The bodhisattva, having at hand wealth that may be given, knowing there is a miserly household, an utterly miserly household, that clings tightly to its wealth, is miserly and clenched and trembling, and has never in the household given to a single renunciant or brahmin, then goes to their house, and consoling them, in a respectful and yielding manner by skillful means tells them: "Come — I will not let your storehouse be diminished, and yet you can, before your very eyes, do a great benefit: my household now has abundant treasure and objects of giving; in order to fulfill my perfection of giving, if any who ask should come to your place, do not let them return empty; you may come to my house, take treasure, and give at will; or if any who ask come to my place, and I practice giving, you should give rise to sympathetic joy toward this giving." Hearing this, he then gives rise to gladness: since his storehouse suffers no loss, and moreover he satisfies the mind of that good man, he complies and helps carry it out. In this way the bodhisattva causes him gradually to plant the seed of "the taming, in time to come, of miserliness," and by means of wisdom first, and skillful means, causes him gradually to practice giving away a little wealth himself, and, in reliance on lower non-attachment to advance to middling, and in reliance on middling non-attachment to advance to higher.

(Fellow practitioners of the pure life) If the bodhisattva's preceptor, master of deportment, fellow disciples living together, or fellow practitioners of the pure life are by nature miserly and greedy, or of the class of the miserly and greedy, or though not by nature miserly and greedy yet lack resources and are wanting in what they desire; then when the bodhisattva wishes to cultivate the meritorious work of giving toward the three fields — "Buddha, Dharma, Saṅgha" — he hands the object of giving to them to do it, and does not do it himself. In this way, by skillful wisdom and skillful means, the merit he himself produces becomes yet more abundant; moreover he causes one class of fellow practitioners of the pure life to tame the affliction of miserliness and greed, and causes one class of those who delight in wholesome dharmas to have their wishes fulfilled — thus drawing in and bringing sentient beings to maturity.

(The deceitful merchant) The bodhisattva, having at hand many kinds of wealth that may be given, seeing that one who comes has the mark of seeking, and knowing his mind, gives all as suits what he delights in. If a merchant is by nature deceitful and intends to practice fraud, and the bodhisattva knows it, he even covers over his fault and does not let others know of it, how much less would he provoke and vex him — rather he satisfies his wish and fulfills it, causing him, without shame, to leap up fearless and go off glad. If someone is deceitful and fraudulent and the bodhisattva does not perceive it at first and only afterward perceives it, then even perceiving it, he does not on account of this matter expose the man, does not rebuke him, does not remind him of it; he only gives rise to pity: "He has, at my place, mistakenly done such a deed of taking-what-is-not-given; I now rejoice in it and make him free of sin." Such as these are named the bodhisattva's "having at hand wealth that may be given" and giving by skillful wisdom.

(Skillful wisdom without wealth) If the bodhisattva has at hand no wealth to give, then he brings before his mind the various kinds of worldly workshops of the crafts that he has practiced beforehand, and with little application of effort gathers much treasure and gives it to beings. Or the bodhisattva, for another's sake, expounds the true Dharma with various fine and skillful words, causing even the poor and suffering to delight in practicing giving, how much more the wealthy and happy, and causing even the miserly and greedy to be able to give, how much more those practiced in giving. Or, if there be households of pure faith, abounding in wealth, ever delighting in giving, the bodhisattva repeatedly instructs those who beg to go there and seek, causing them to give; or, when they bestow gifts and cultivate merit, he goes in person to their place, diligent and untiring, glad in the depths of his heart, and to the measure of his strength helps with his body and helps with his speech, causing giver and asker alike to attain a wholesome fulfillment — for at the time of giving, if the resources of the matter be lacking, or the attending be poorly done, or it fall into partisanship, or lack respect, or be lost through forgetfulness, then by the help of the wholesome all these faults are absent. In this way the bodhisattva, having at hand no treasure, gives by skillful wisdom and skillful means. (This is said down to the point before he has realized the surpassing pure intention; if the bodhisattva has already realized the surpassing pure intention, then, as he has already surpassed the evil destinies, so life after life he definitely obtains inexhaustible treasure.)

(Skillful wisdom in the giving of Dharma) The bodhisattva never orally transmits the true Dharma possessed by the "fault-seeking outsiders," nor gives them the scriptures he has written; knowing a person to be by nature much given to greed and wishing to show off and sell the scripture-scrolls, he does not give; knowing a person wishes to hide them away, he does not give; to one who does not seek surpassing knowledge, he does not give — it must be one who seeks surpassing knowledge (only then does he give). If he himself knows that his understanding of the scripture-scrolls and the like is already clear, then in accordance with what pleases him he gives them as fitting; if he himself knows that his understanding of the scripture-scrolls and the like is not yet clear and, for the sake of clarifying the meaning, he constantly reads them himself, then by skillful means he seeks another scripture-scroll to give, or copies one afresh and gives it. If he does not find another scripture-scroll and has no power to copy one, then he ought carefully and truly to examine his own mind: "Can it be that my mind is bound by the stain of miserliness toward the Dharma, so that I cannot give? Can it be that I have some other obstruction of intent toward the Dharma, so that I do not wish to give? Is it that I have a surpassing need of the Dharma, and so ought not to give?" Having thus examined his mind, if he himself knows "I have, toward this Dharma, a little of the entanglement of miserliness, or am obstructed by some other intent, and so do not give," then he rouses this thought: "I now definitely ought to practice the giving of Dharma — supposing that through this giving of Dharma I should in the present life become deaf-and-dumb, unable to bear the affliction, still I ought to give the Dharma, how much more when it is but a lack in my provision of excellent knowledge." And again, having examined, if he himself knows "I have toward this Dharma not the least entanglement of miserliness, nor any other intent, and only for the sake of accomplishing a surpassing needed meaning do I not give," then the bodhisattva at that time should further consider: "In giving this Dharma to another, is it to harm my own afflictions? Is it to fulfill the provision of knowledge? Is it out of love and care for beings?" Having considered, he then rightly understands: "I do not at all see that I have afflictions of my own; and I see that if I do not give this scripture-scroll, then in the present life and in time to come my provision of knowledge will in turn increase and prevail, and it is not by giving it to another that this merit is established, but only that in time to come my Dharma-benefit will be somewhat the thinner — not that my awakened wisdom will be less abundant; if I do not give it to another, then I can cultivate and gather the wisdom of skillful means that benefits and eases all beings, which is to love and care for this one being and all the rest as well; if I give it to another, I only accomplish love and care for this one being, and not for all the rest." When the bodhisattva has thus truly understood, then not giving to another is without sin, without regret, and does not transgress the bodhisattva's pure precepts.

(Giving-by-skillful-means-of-not-giving) What is the bodhisattva's giving-by-skillful-means-of-not-giving? The bodhisattva cannot bear to say plainly to one who comes asking, sending him away, "I cannot give to you"; he must set up skillful means, make it clear, and send him off. How does he set up skillful means? The bodhisattva first, "for the sake of purification," gives all the accumulated resources and objects of giving away — with a pure intention he relinquishes them to the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions — just as a bhikṣu, in order to purify his own robes and belongings, relinquishes them to his preceptor, his master of deportment, and the like. In this way the bodhisattva, by the causal condition of "pure giving," though he stores up various excellent resources and objects of giving, may still be named as abiding in the holy lineage and producing immeasurable merit; because he ever much reflects on this merit, at all times it follows him and increases; ever taking all things as "objects of pure giving," he guards and keeps them as things entrusted by the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Seeing one who comes asking, he ought then to observe: if giving that object of pure giving to him would accord with right principle, then he rouses this thought, "the buddhas and bodhisattvas have not the least thing that they do not give to a being," and having thus understood, he takes the object of pure giving and gives it to the one who comes asking, fulfilling his wish; if he observes that to give at this time would not accord with right principle, then he ought to call to mind the dharma of pure giving he performed beforehand, and tell him, "Worthy one! These things are the possession of another (the buddhas and bodhisattvas), and it is not permitted to give them to you," and with gentle words make it clear, and by skillful means send him off, or take some other thing twofold or threefold and respectfully give it and then send him off, causing him to understand "the bodhisattva, in this, does not fail to give me out of miserliness and greed, but surely is not free to dispose of this scripture-scroll and other such Dharma, and so does not give it to me." This is named the bodhisattva's giving of Dharma by skillful wisdom.

(The three givings · giving with the four intentions) The bodhisattva, in all giving — the giving of Dharma, the giving of wealth, the giving of fearlessness — truly understanding their "distinct modes, essential characters, the explanation of their names, and the differences of cause and fruit," and giving accordingly, is also named the bodhisattva giving by skillful wisdom. The bodhisattva gives to one who bears enmity with the intention of loving-kindness, to one who has suffering with the intention of compassion, to one who has virtue with the intention of sympathetic joy, and to one who has shown kindness, a kinsman, a friend, or one of like mind with the intention of equanimity — this too is named the bodhisattva giving by skillful wisdom.

(The four obstacles to giving and the four counteracting knowledges) The bodhisattva truly understands the "obstacles to giving" and their counteragents. Obstacles to giving are, in brief, of four kinds: first, not having practiced it beforehand; second, the object of giving being scarce and wanting; third, attachment to excellent and pleasing wealth; fourth, seeing that in time to come there will be an abundant fruit of wealth, and deeply delighting in it.

The first: the bodhisattva, having at hand various kinds of wealth that may be given, though he sees one who asks before him, does not have his mind incline toward giving; the bodhisattva then, by right wisdom, swiftly penetrates "this is the fault brought about by my not having practiced giving beforehand," and further penetrates "in a former life I definitely never practiced giving, and so in this life, though I have wealth and see one who asks before me, my mind does not incline; if in this life I do not, by forced reflection and discernment, give, then in a future life I shall the more loathe and turn from the giving that ought to be practiced"; having thus penetrated it, he takes this counteragent to the obstacle to giving as his support, and with strenuous reflection and discernment gives, able to be free of the fault of "not having practiced it beforehand" and to act with mastery. The second: the bodhisattva sees one who asks before him, and because his wealth is scarce his mind does not incline toward giving; he then, by right wisdom, swiftly penetrates this causal condition of "want obstructing giving," and enduring the many sufferings of want, with strenuous reflection and discernment and raising a mind of compassion and pity, gives by wisdom, rousing this thought: "Whether by the fault of past deeds or by being at present bound to another, I fully undergo the sufferings of hunger and thirst and cannot benefit beings; supposing that I now, by practicing giving to benefit another, in the present life undergo suffering even unto death, still such giving is the most excellent, surpassing the vain sending-off of one who asks, how much more when there are still leaves of vegetables and the like to keep me alive" — thus, enduring the suffering of want, he gives. The third: the bodhisattva sees one who asks before him, and because the thing that may be given is utterly pleasing and most excellent and fine, his mind does not incline toward giving; he then, by right wisdom, swiftly penetrates "this is the fault brought about by my attachment; I now, toward suffering, rouse a false thought of happiness, a topsy-turvy view, and thereby can produce many sufferings in time to come"; thoroughly understanding this topsy-turvy view, and in order to sever it, with strenuous reflection and discernment, he uses this wealth to give. The fourth: if the bodhisattva, having practiced giving, sees the surpassing merit in the fruit of giving — the abundant and vast wealth-benefit to come — and deeply delights in it, not seeking unsurpassed awakening; he then, by right wisdom, swiftly penetrates "this is the fault brought about by the wrong view of fruit," and truly observes that all conditioned things are without firmness, cease moment by moment, and that the fruit enjoyed swiftly perishes and disperses; observing thus, he is then able to sever "the wrong view of fruit that can produce delight," and dedicates all the giving he practices to unsurpassed awakening.

Thus the bodhisattva's four obstacles to giving, one should know, are counteracted by four counteracting knowledges: first, awakening; second, enduring the many sufferings; third, thoroughly knowing the topsy-turvy; fourth, seeing that the nature of all conditioned things is without firmness. By the first three counteracting knowledges the bodhisattva is definitely able rightly to practice giving; by the last counteracting knowledge he is able rightly to take up the surpassing fruit of the merit of giving. This too is named the bodhisattva giving by skillful wisdom.

(Giving by the power of resolute conviction) The bodhisattva, dwelling within in quiet and stillness, by a pure intention, deep and rich pure faith, and discerning resolute conviction, repeatedly calls to mind the various kinds of excellent and immeasurable wealth and treasure, and by the power of resolute conviction delights in practicing giving toward beings — by this causal condition, the bodhisattva, with little exertion, produces immeasurable merit. This too is named the bodhisattva giving by skillful wisdom.

(The summary meaning of giving by skillful wisdom) Thus the summary meaning of the giving practiced by skillful wisdom of the bodhisattva of fine wisdom and great wisdom is: by "having wealth and having no wealth" (subsumed under the giving of wealth), by the giving of Dharma, by giving with unobstructed understanding, by giving with a surpassing intention, by giving with the wisdom that counteracts the obstacles to giving, and by giving with a surpassing intention and resolute conviction — this, one should know, is named the bodhisattva's "giving not shared in common." Thus have been broadly set forth all the distinct marks of the giving the bodhisattva practices with regard to inner and outer things; hereafter, out of all these distinct marks of giving, are drawn the remaining kinds of difficult giving and the rest — all the distinctions, which should be understood.

Taken separately: when wealth is present, weighing the two askers, training a miserly household, entrusting the act to a fellow practitioner, and treating a deceitful merchant without humiliation are giving by skillful wisdom with wealth; when wealth is absent, using crafts to gather resources, expounding Dharma skillfully, directing askers to generous households, and personally assisting another's giving are giving by skillful wisdom without wealth. Examining whether scripture-scrolls and Dharma-meaning should or should not be given is giving of Dharma. Truly knowing the alternate modes, essential characters, names, causes, and fruits of giving Dharma, wealth, and fearlessness is giving with unobstructed understanding. Giving to an enemy with loving-kindness, to the suffering with compassion, to the virtuous with sympathetic joy, and to benefactors, kin, friends, and those of like mind with equanimity is giving with a surpassing intention. Counteracting the four obstacles by awakening, endurance of suffering, knowledge of inversion, and seeing conditioned things as infirm is giving with counteracting wisdom. Recollecting measureless treasures in seclusion through pure intention and deep faith is giving through surpassing intention and resolute conviction. Together these are called the bodhisattva's giving by skillful wisdom not shared in common.

Three · Difficult Giving

What is the bodhisattva's difficult giving? One should know that in brief there are three kinds. If a bodhisattva, though his wealth be scarce, himself endures poverty and hardship and gives to another, this is the first difficult giving. If a bodhisattva, toward a thing he loves (whether by nature deeply attached to it, or through long practice, or because it bears a superior kindness, or being a most excellent and fine thing to which he is intensely attached), is able to loosen himself from it and give it to another, this is the second difficult giving. If a bodhisattva gives to another wealth obtained through the utmost toil, this is the third difficult giving.

Four · All-Gateway Giving

What is the bodhisattva's all-gateway giving? One should know that in brief there are four marks: namely, the bodhisattvas either give with their own wealth, or give with wealth obtained by exhorting and converting others, and either give it to kinsfolk (father and mother, wife and children, servants and maids, those who serve, good friends, great ministers, kinsmen, and dependents) or give it to others who come asking. Such four marks are named the bodhisattva's all-gateway giving.

Five · Good-Person Giving

What is the giving practiced by the bodhisattva as a good person, named good-person giving? One should know that in brief there are five marks: namely, the bodhisattvas give with pure faith, give with respect, give with their own hand, give at the fitting time, and give without harming or vexing another. Such five marks are named good-person giving.

Six · All-Kinds Giving

What is the bodhisattva's all-kinds giving? One should know there are thirteen marks: (1) giving without reliance; (2) vast giving; (3) glad giving; (4) repeated giving; (5) giving to a worthy vessel; (6) giving to an unworthy vessel; (7) giving of all things; (8) giving in all places; (9) giving at all times; (10) blameless giving; (11) giving of things that belong to beings; (12) giving of things of the region; (13) giving of wealth and grain. Such thirteen marks are named the bodhisattva's all-kinds giving.

Seven · Request-Fulfilling Giving

What is the bodhisattva's request-fulfilling giving? One should know there are eight marks: namely, the bodhisattvas give food and drink to those who come to beg, lacking food and drink; give carriages to those who lack carriages; give clothing to those who lack clothing; give adornments to those who lack adornments; give the various goods that support life to those who lack the various goods that support life; give perfume-paste and garlands to those who lack the various perfume-pastes and garlands; give houses to those who lack houses; give light to those who lack light. Such eight marks are named the bodhisattva's request-fulfilling giving.

Eight · Giving That Brings Happiness in This World and the Next

What is the bodhisattva's giving that brings happiness in this world and the next? One should know that in brief there are nine marks: namely the giving of wealth, the giving of fearlessness, and the giving of Dharma, together named "giving that can bring beings happiness in this world and the next." The giving of wealth means to give excellent, fine, pure, and Dharma-conforming wealth — giving so as to tame the "stain of miserliness" (namely relinquishing attachment to wealth) and to tame the "stain of hoarding" (namely relinquishing attachment to enjoyment). The giving of fearlessness means rescuing and delivering from the dread of lions, tigers and wolves, ghosts and specters, and the like; rescuing and delivering from the dread of kings, thieves, and the like; rescuing and delivering from the dread of water, fire, and the like. The giving of Dharma means expounding the Dharma without error, expounding the Dharma in accord with principle, and exhorting to the cultivation of the training-precepts. All these together, stated in brief as nine marks, are named the bodhisattva's giving that can bring beings happiness in this world and the next. Herein, the giving of wealth, the giving of fearlessness, and their distinctions can bring beings ease in this world; the giving of Dharma and its distinctions can bring beings ease in the world to come.

Nine · Pure Giving

What is the bodhisattva's pure giving? One should know there are ten marks: (1) giving without lingering delay; (2) giving without grasping; (3) giving without hoarding; (4) giving without lifting oneself up; (5) giving without reliance; (6) giving without timid shrinking; (7) giving without lowliness; (8) giving without turning-toward-and-away; (9) giving without hope of a return for the kindness; (10) giving without wishing for its maturation.

Giving without lingering delay: The bodhisattva, seeing one who comes asking before him, gives swiftly, making no lingering delay — as the one who asks urgently hopes to obtain the wealth, so the bodhisattva swiftly hopes to give (just as urgently). Giving without grasping: The bodhisattva does not, out of a false view, grasp at the giving — either grasping that this giving is empty and without fruit, or grasping that "to give by killing" is the true Dharma, or grasping that "to give only with utterly pure fullness" is the mundane and supramundane ultimate purity (all three of these being false). Giving without hoarding: The bodhisattva does not, over a long time, gradually amass much wealth and then give it all at once. Why? The bodhisattva, having at hand objects of giving and seeing one who asks before him, how could he not give? The bodhisattva does not regard non-giving as according with right principle; but where is the principle in hoarding wealth and not giving swiftly? The bodhisattva, moreover, does not see that "to give all at once after hoarding wealth" is a gateway to the growth of much merit; and he rightly observes: whether they ask separately or ask for the whole, those who ask are alike, and whether one gives gradually or gives all at once, the wealth is equal — on what ground should one grasp that the merit differs? The bodhisattva, moreover, sees: to hoard and then give — that giving has sin; to give as one obtains — that giving is without sin. Why? If one gives all at once only after hoarding, then the ones who came asking beforehand, though a hundred in number, were not given to and were made to give rise to resentment, impatience, and disbelief; and afterward a certain class, though they may not have sought it, has the hoarded rare wealth forced upon them all at once (this then has sin). Therefore the bodhisattva does not give by hoarding. Giving without lifting oneself up: The bodhisattva gives to those who come asking with a humble mind, does not give in contest for superiority with another, and, having given, does not give rise to arrogance, thinking "I am able to give, I am the giver, others are not my equal." Giving without reliance: The bodhisattva does not give in reliance on acclaim and praise — realizing that worldly acclaim and praise are false discrimination, arising from words, being but empty sound, bound to a false echo, like the world's heap of chaff-husks and leaves (an empty shell). Giving without timid shrinking: Before giving the bodhisattva is glad in intention, while giving his mind is pure, and having given he has no regret; and when he hears of the vast, foremost, most excellent giving of the bodhisattvas, he does not belittle himself, nor is he afraid and shrink back. Giving without lowliness: The bodhisattva diligently selects among the objects of giving, and gives the most excellent and finest food and drink, carriages, clothing, and the like. Giving without turning-toward-and-away: The bodhisattva's mind is even, not following partisanship, and among enemy and kin he gives evenly with a mind of compassion. Giving without hope of a return for the kindness: The bodhisattva gives with a mind of compassion and pity, and never hopes for a requital from another; he only observes beings — "burned by the fire of craving that seeks happiness, without strength, their nature being suffering" — and gives out of deep-hearted compassion and pity. Giving without wishing for its maturation: The bodhisattva, in practicing giving, never hopes for the fruit-maturation of giving — the fullness of wealth and treasure and the fullness of his own person to be obtained in time to come — but observes that the nature of all conditioned things is false and hollow, and observes the most excellent merit of great awakening (and gives thereby). By these ten marks, the giving the bodhisattva practices is pure, utterly pure.

Conclusion

Thus the bodhisattva, having, in reliance on these nine aspects, practiced the giving and fulfilled the perfection of giving, is then able to realize unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening.

Why the Six Perfections Begin with "Giving"

The close of the Chapter on the Lineage of Power spoke of the four means of gathering, with giving at their head; and at the Chapter on Giving one formally enters the six perfections — giving, discipline, patience, vigor, meditative absorption, wisdom — of which giving is likewise the first. Why is giving taught first? Because "giving," this one act, directly loosens the deepest knot in beings: miserliness (the inability to let go). A person who clutches tight even at things outside himself has no footing for any deeper practice. So the six perfections set out from the most concrete "letting go."

Yet at its very opening the Chapter on Giving sets up an important frame — the "nine aspects": giving of intrinsic nature, giving of all, difficult giving, all-gateway giving, good-person giving, all-kinds giving, request-fulfilling giving, giving that brings happiness in this world and the next, and pure giving 〔this treatise〕. These nine aspects are not merely the rubric of the Chapter on Giving; the ancient masters point out that they are the common frame shared by all six perfections: the Tripiṭaka-master Xuanzang says, "the lower five perfections explain the three 'all's' (giving of all, all-gateway giving, all-kinds giving) — this should be understood by analogy" 〔Dunlun〕. That is to say, discipline, patience, vigor, meditative absorption, and wisdom — each perfection unfolds according to these nine aspects. The Chapter on Giving is the model for the six perfections.

Giving of Intrinsic Nature: Giving Is Not That Gift, but the Heart That Gives It

The first of the nine aspects, "giving of intrinsic nature," answers a most fundamental question — what, after all, is the essence of "giving"? The treatise says: "the volition that arises together with non-attachment, and the two kinds of action, of body and of speech, that are set in motion thereby and can give all blameless objects of giving" 〔this treatise〕. The two pillars of the ancient masters (Dunlun and Kuiji) point it out with one voice: the essence of giving is "the volition (the mind's intending) associated with non-attachment," plus the two kinds of action, of body and speech, that it sets in motion; Kuiji further indicates that the source is in the Abhidharmasamuccaya-vyākhyā, fascicle twelve 〔Dunlun · Kuiji〕.

This one line is of the utmost importance. The essence of the perfection of giving is not the thing that is given away, but that "non-attached intending of the mind" at the moment of giving. "Volition" is the mental factor of shaping, the essence; "non-attachment" is the root of goodness associated with it, the concomitant; the hand and mouth passing the thing over are only its function. So Dunlun adds: not only the giving of wealth, but even the giving of Dharma and the giving of fearlessness "all possess the three kinds of action and the nature of non-attachment" — all three givings have, at bottom, one and the same non-attached heart. Though a person scatter all his household wealth, if he still clutches in his heart the greed and the reckoning of "how much I have given up," that is not the perfection of giving; conversely, a poor man who, with a non-attached heart, hands over a single bowl of rice — that is. As a "perfection," what giving measures is never the quantity of the thing, but the non-attachment of the heart.

(The treatise also states the two foundations of giving: abiding in "moral restraint" and in the "āgama view, the view that there is definitely a fruit" — deep trust in the cause and fruit transmitted by the Buddha, deep trust that giving must have its fruit. Kuiji says "āgama" has two senses, one the sense of "transmission," namely the āgama [scriptures], the other the sense of "cause and fruit," and here the sense of cause and fruit is taken 〔Kuiji〕: for giving to get off the ground, one must first be able to trust cause and fruit.)

Giving of All: What to Give and What Not to Give Is a Matter of Wisdom

The second of the nine aspects, "giving of all," is the longest, taking up nearly half the whole chapter — because "giving" is not answering every request, but a discipline that calls for wisdom. Here the treatise finely distinguishes "what ought and ought not to be given":

What ought to be given must be given: to those who ask for enjoyment, let them have whatever they need; to those who ask for mastery, give it, cutting off all clinging of mind; even one's own body, hand, foot, head, eyes, and marrow, for the sake of beings and of awakening, one can give. But what ought not to be given, not one thing may be given either: to those who come to ask for poison, fire, blade, or liquor to harm themselves or others, one does not give; to those who come to ask for hunting-gear, the cage, the net, the fowling-net, the snare (the gear for catching fish, netting deer, snaring hares 〔Dunlun〕) in order to kill living beings, one does not give; to those who come to ask for things of idle amusement and no meaning, which make one fall into the evil destinies, one does not give; to a sick person asking for unsuitable food and drink, or a grief-stricken one asking for the means of self-harm, one does not give. Above all — to those who come to ask for one's father, mother, teacher, or elder, definitely one does not give: for toward one who has shown him kindness the bodhisattva "submits even to their slaughtering, beating, binding, or selling him, and dares not privately harbor a mind to give them away, how much less openly give them to one who comes asking" 〔this treatise · Dunlun〕; he does not forcibly compel wife and children, servants and maids, to be given away, does not seize the wealth of kinsfolk to give away, does not transgress the precepts to give. If behind the giving there is killing, coercion, seizure, or the ruin of another, then it is not giving — it is the making of sin.

The treatise devotes a further long passage to "giving by skillful wisdom" — giving must be marshaled by wisdom: when two who ask come together and the wealth suffices for only one, first give to the one in danger and hardship, without refuge, and with gentle words send off the one at ease, with refuge 〔this treatise〕; meeting a miserly household, do not take their wealth, but draw them in to rejoice and so plant in them the seed of relinquishing miserliness; having no wealth oneself, then by the crafts gain much wealth with little effort, or expound the Dharma to exhort others to give, or help another to give; as for the giving of Dharma, look to whether the other truly seeks surpassing knowledge (do not give to those who would show off and sell the scripture-scrolls, nor to fault-seeking outsiders). When one has given to the point of not being able to give, there is yet "giving-by-skillful-means-of-not-giving": first relinquish all resources with a pure intention "to the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions" for purification (as a bhikṣu relinquishes his robes and belongings to his preceptor for purification 〔this treatise〕), and, seeing one who ought not to be given to, then with gentle words make it clear — "these are the possession of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and it is not permitted to give them to you" — and further, with some other thing, doubly and respectfully send him off — letting the other understand that the bodhisattva is not miserly and greedy, but is not free to dispose of this Dharma. Every step of giving is steered by wisdom.

The Four Obstacles to Giving and the Four Counteracting Knowledges: What Blocks the "Giving"

Why is a person unable to give? The treatise lists four "obstacles to giving," and Woncheuk further points out the essence of each one by one 〔this treatise · Dunlun〕: the first is "not having practiced it beforehand" (never having practiced letting-go; its essence is the incapacity that lies upon the seeds); the second is "the object of giving being scarce and wanting" (the thing being too little; its essence is the five aggregates and the twelve links); the third is "attachment to the excellent and fine" (unable to let go of a good thing; its essence is surpassing greed); the fourth is "seeing and delighting in the fruit of wealth to come" (coveting the future merit-reward of giving; its essence is the wrong view that seeks a fruit to come).

What counteracts them are four kinds of knowledge 〔this treatise · Dunlun〕: first, "awakening" (perceiving that from of old one has not practiced giving, and forcing oneself to it); second, "enduring the many sufferings" (though the thing be little, enduring hunger and cold and giving all at once); third, "thoroughly knowing the topsy-turvy" (seeing through the fact that attachment to fine wealth is topsy-turvy, is the root of affliction and impurity, and so being able to draw back and give it out); fourth, "seeing that the nature of all conditioned things is without firmness" (understanding the impermanence of conditioned things and not coveting the fruit of giving). The treatise particularly points out: the first three knowledges make a person "definitely able rightly to practice giving," and the fourth makes a person "rightly take up the surpassing fruit of the merit of giving" — the first three settle "whether one can give," the fourth settles "where the giving is dedicated once given."

From the Giving of Wealth to Pure Giving: How Giving Becomes a "Perfection"

Giving is of three kinds: the giving of wealth, the giving of fearlessness, the giving of Dharma 〔this treatise〕. The giving of wealth and the giving of fearlessness bring beings ease in this world; the giving of Dharma brings beings ease in the world to come. But for "giving" to become a "perfection (crossing to the other shore)," the crux lies in the last aspect — the ten marks of "pure giving": without lingering delay, without grasping, without hoarding, without lifting oneself up, without reliance, without timid shrinking, without lowliness, without turning-toward-and-away, without hope of a return for kindness, without wishing for its maturation 〔this treatise〕. The two deepest of these: "without hope of a return for the kindness" (giving only out of pity for beings burned by the fire of craving, whose nature is suffering, seeking no requital), and "without wishing for its maturation" (not coveting the fullness of wealth to come, but observing that conditioned things are false and hollow, and observing the merit of great awakening).

This connects to the deepest meaning of the perfection of giving. The treatise says the bodhisattva "does not falsely reckon that 'the giver, the receiver, and the object of giving, these three matters being Dharma-conforming' is itself the ultimate purity," and Dunlun explains it through 〔Dunlun〕: the three spheres (giver, receiver, object of giving) being Dharma-conforming "is but the provision for the purity of freedom from desire, not the true path of purity; the true path of purity is non-outflowing wisdom." In other words — the purity of the three spheres is still only provision; giving truly becomes a perfection when it is upheld by "non-outflowing wisdom" and all is "dedicated to unsurpassed awakening." So the treatise says again and again: give without a view to the fruit, dedicate all to the swift realization of awakening. Only when giving reaches the emptiness of all three spheres and the dedication to awakening does one cross, from "giving," to "the other shore."

The One Meaning This Chapter Casts into Light

The Chapter on Giving looks like a "handbook of giving" (the nine aspects, what ought and ought not to be given, skillful wisdom, the obstacles to giving, the three givings, the ten marks of purity), but in truth it sets up only one deep meaning: the perfection of giving lies not in the thing, but in the heart. Its essence is "the volition that arises together with non-attachment" (the non-attached intending that gives); its unfolding is "skillful wisdom" (using wisdom to distinguish what ought and ought not to be given, and how to give); its counteragent is the four knowledges that see through the four obstacles; its ultimate is the purity of the three spheres, dedication to awakening, and the upholding of non-outflowing wisdom. A poor man who, with a non-attached heart, gives a single bowl of rice and dedicates it to beings' becoming buddhas, surpasses a rich man who clutches his reckoning while scattering a thousand pieces of gold. And the nine aspects that the Chapter on Giving sets up are the shared model of the six perfections — below, discipline, patience, vigor, meditative absorption, and wisdom, each perfection will proceed according to these nine aspects, from "intrinsic nature" through to "purity."

Carrying Forward

The meaning of giving in this chapter, receiving before and opening after, is the model for the six perfections: giving receives the giving that heads the four means of gathering at the close of the Chapter on the Lineage of Power (the 8th of the seven sites); the nine aspects (including the three "all's") are the common frame of the six perfections, the lower five perfections being by analogy 〔Dunlun〕. The giving of intrinsic nature, as the volition arising together with non-attachment, draws in the Abhidharmasamuccaya-vyākhyā 〔Kuiji〕; the three spheres as "but the provision for freedom from desire, the true path of purity being non-outflowing wisdom" 〔Dunlun〕 receive the non-conceptual knowledge of the Chapter on Reality (the 3rd of the seven sites) and the dedication to unsurpassed awakening. Giving is an instrument for bringing sentient beings to maturity in the Chapter on Maturation (the 5th/6th of the seven sites) (request-fulfilling giving · giving that brings happiness in this world and the next). The Section on Ascertainment separately sets up the ascertainment of six chapters — giving and the rest — not following the nine aspects, but re-ascertaining giving by "seven kinds of purity × ten marks," re-ascertaining the essential character, the exposition of the term, and the differences (the purity of knowledge) and the four kinds of obstacle (the purity of stains), pointing back to the ten-mark pure giving of the Basic Section, and drawing on the Sūtra of the Five Kinds of Fault and the Śṛgālaka Sūtra as its grounds. Next comes the Chapter on Discipline (the second of the six perfections · the threefold pure discipline) — giving being now clarified, one proceeds into discipline.