Generosity (dāna): give, then notice what you were holding on to
Practise giving as a training against stinginess — and watch for the quieter attachments that ride along with a gift.
Warum es wirkt
Patrul Rinpoche sets generosity against stinginess, and trains it by reflecting on the faults of holding on to one’s body, possessions and past, present and future good deeds, the benefits of giving them, and the reasons they must be given. A note in his guide, from Asaṅga’s commentary on the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, lists seven attachments that spoil a gift — among them postponing it, being satisfied with a little, and expecting something in return. Giving repeatedly, while noticing which of these is present, loosens the habit of treating what you have as something to defend.
So gehst du vor
- Choose one small, real gift today — money, time, attention, or credit you would usually keep for yourself.
- Before giving, notice any reluctance in the body and name it plainly: “this is holding on.”
- Give without postponing, and without announcing it.
- Afterwards, check honestly for the quieter attachments: were you expecting thanks, something back, or to be seen as generous?
- Do not repair the gift if you find them — simply note them, and let the next gift be a little cleaner.
Evidenz
The training and the seven attachments are from Patrul Rinpoche’s guide. A related modern practice — spending money on others rather than on oneself — has experimental support: in Dunn, Aknin and Norton (2008), participants randomly assigned to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those assigned to spend it on themselves. A large registered replication (Aknin et al., 2020) confirmed the effect when 712 students were randomly assigned to buy something for themselves or for a stranger in need, but found that recalling past prosocial spending produced no difference in one experiment and only a small one in another. (rct)
The trials test prosocial spending and momentary happiness, a related modern practice — not the pāramitā of generosity, whose aim in the tradition is to loosen attachment for the sake of awakening, not to feel happier. The size of the effect depends on how it is measured.
Quellen
- Patrul Rinpoche. The Brightly Shining Sun: A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditating on the Bodhicaryāvatāra, trans. Adam Pearcey (2004; revised 2007 and 2019). Lotsawa House.
- Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687–1688.
- Aknin, L. B., Dunn, E. W., Proulx, J., Lok, I., & Norton, M. I. (2020). Does spending money on others promote happiness?: A registered replication report. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(2), e15–e26.
Häufiger Fehler
Measuring generosity by the size of the gift — the tradition’s test is what you were still holding on to while giving, so a small gift with no score kept is further along than a large one given for credit.
Übe das mit IX Coach
Weitere Übungen für The Six Pāramitās: How the Bodhisattva Trains
- Ethical discipline (śīla): keep watch with mindfulness, vigilance and care
Hold what you mean to do and not do in mind, check your body, speech and mind as you go, and act on what you notice.
- Patience (kṣānti): meet harm without adding anger
When someone harms or provokes you, work with the anger directly — through compassion for them, honesty about your part, and the chance it gives you to practise.
- Joyful effort (vīrya): find which kind of laziness is in the way
Effort in this tradition is joy in doing good — and its obstacle comes in three kinds, each with its own remedy.
- Meditative concentration (dhyāna): settle the mind, and rest it on the equality of self and others
Clear away busyness and craving for praise, then let the settled mind dwell on the fact that others want happiness exactly as you do.
- Wisdom (prajñā): look for the self you are defending
Investigate whether the “I” that feels harmed, praised or threatened can actually be found in the body or the mind.
- See how the six combine — each one completed by wisdom
Check any single act of giving, restraint or patience against the four features that make it a “perfection” rather than an ordinary good deed.
- Practise patience with yourself so the path does not become perfectionism
Use the tradition’s own remedies — encouragement, rest, rejoicing — when the ideal of perfection starts turning into a stick.
Verwandte Konzepte
- Lojong: Tibetisches Geistestraining
Die 59 Slogans und ihre praktische Anwendung auf alltägliche Widrigkeit und Mitgefühl
- Tonglen: Die tibetische Praxis des Nehmens und Sendens
Sich dem Leid mit dem Atem zuwenden – die radikale Mitgefühlspraxis des tibetischen Buddhismus
- Karuṇā: Compassion Meditation in the Theravāda Tradition
The second divine abiding, practised the way the Theravāda commentaries lay it out
- Shamatha: Die buddhistische Praxis der ruhigen Verweilung
Den Geist zur Ruhe trainieren: die neun Stufen und ihre modernen neurologischen Parallelen