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Meditation: Our Generosity Inner Guide

Hello, greetings friends. Greetings from the northern hemisphere, from Mountain View, California, unceded Ohlone land. It's lovely to be with you in this moment in time, where it's a chilly morning here.

So let us gather in community this day and continue our explorations with the practice of generosity, dāna^[1], and the invitation. Today is the culmination of four days of exploring this topic together. During our guided meditation—actually, we might as well just start, and whatever you need to know, I will invite you during the meditation. So let's just begin.

Arriving, landing in this body first. Here. Here. Here. Transitioning from the busyness, from whatever has come before.

Greeting, creating this moment. Creating this moment of being human, being alive in this body, in this form, here, just as it shows up. It has never been and will never be like this ever again. Greeting this passing moment with a smile.

Arriving at your seat again, internally. Arriving at your seat, taking your seat on this earth. You are alive, I am alive. Taking your seat in this moment in time, in this body.

Relaxing, softening, receiving. Receiving the sensations of the body just as they are: pleasant, unpleasant, neutral. It's all a gift. It's all a gift. Pleasant, as well as the unpleasant and neutral. A holy gift. Can we see it that way? Is it possible to open up just for a moment? Just for a moment.

Receiving the breath. The breath is a gift, enlivening, bringing life to this body. Just receiving the breath in the abdomen, lowering the center of gravity from our head, where it usually is, down to our lower abdomen. As if the abdomen, the belly, is an organ of perception. As if it knows, it receives the breath on its own senses.

And now I have an invitation for you to try on for size. If you would, bring to mind someone who, for you, represents complete generosity of spirit, generosity of heart. Complete. It could be a person, a being, someone you know or have known. It could be a cultural icon, someone historic, maybe like the Dalai Lama or Martin Luther King, Jr. Or it could be an archetype that works for you. Whatever works for you. It can be non-denominational. It could be the Buddha, it could be Jesus, it could be a being of light. Make it whoever works for you, whatever works for you, or even divinity themselves.

This sense of complete generosity. Complete generosity, generosity of spirit, generosity of heart, which includes loving-kindness, forgiveness, letting go, vast perspective. Whatever or whoever helps you tap into this vision, bring them to mind.

And imagine them saying, "Okay, let me show you what it feels like, what it looks like for this moment." And you invite them: "Please show me. Please show me." They agree. As if they enter your heart, your eyes, your body, looking out through your awareness, inhabiting your senses. So that your practice of meditation with the breath, with the body, with awareness is infused with ultimate, gracious, open-hearted generosity.

For some, it might feel, again if it's appropriate for you, like the eyes of God, expansive and spacious, or your inner Buddha. Make it personal, what is meaningful for you based on your history and background. No "shoulds" here. It's just tapping into this sense of generosity of heart, however it is accessible.

And just sitting, resting. Nothing needs to be done. Sitting with this perspective of expansive generosity of heart towards yourself, towards all phenomenal thoughts, sensations, and emotions that arise. That's it. Simple.

And if thoughts and distractions arise, see how they are met from this ultimately generous perspective. How does your attitude, the way you relate to yourself, to your practice, change through the eyes of unconditional generosity? Unconditional goodwill, openness of heart, generosity of spirit.

Nothing to do, nowhere to go, but just sit, be, receive, witness from this perspective. And if something arises—thinking, an emotion, heartache—how does your inner generosity guide, your ultimately generous guide... how do they see, deal with, and approach what has arisen? Let them show you. Your inner generosity mentor. Let them lead. Expansive, spacious, abundant. This generosity of heart, meeting everything. Everything.

As we bring the sitting to a close, appreciating, thanking your generosity guide, your generosity mentor, for gracing your heart and mind, supporting you in this vision. And knowing that anytime you wish, you can invite them to support your practice, to be filled with the spaciousness and grace of generosity of heart, and the ease that that brings.

Bowing to this image, thanking it, letting it go. And together, let's offer the goodness of our practice, our cultivation, our intentions for goodness, generously, as the best gift we have. The highest gift we have in this world. Share it with all beings everywhere.

May the goodness of my life, may the goodness of my heart and my practice as service, support and bring goodness in ways I can't fathom to all beings, and myself included. May all beings know their own goodness. May all beings be happy and free^[2]. Thank you for your practice.

Generosity (5/5) Awakening Through Generosity of Spirit

Hello and greetings, everyone. Today being the fifth day of our exploration with this topic, the guided meditation invited us to tap into, to invite this mettā^[3], this generosity mentor. We all have this sense, and yet sometimes we need creative ways to really access what it's like to have a heart of generosity. Sitting with generosity, with what arises, instead of judgment, instead of grasping or pushing away. What is the spirit of generosity, the spirit of dāna, that can support all of our actions? All of the actions of our mind, the actions of our speech, the actions of our body—all kinds of actions.

Treating generosity as I mentioned before, in this short, beautiful list that one of you emailed and really appreciated. There are so many lists in Buddhism, but this one is simple: dāna, sīla^[4], bhāvanā^[5]. Dāna is generosity. Sīla is ethical conduct, moral conduct, ethics, non-harming. And bhāvanā is cultivation, cultivation of the mind and heart, which includes both samādhi^[6] and vipassanā^[7].

We can actually see dāna, this generosity of spirit, both supporting the other two. Generosity of spirit, when we offer others safety from ourselves, it is cultivating ethical conduct and morality. Offering non-harming is an act of generosity. When other people feel safe in our presence, we can see that as an extension of generosity. And also generosity, dāna, serves as the basis for bhāvanā, for cultivation, leading to liberation.

Liberation—and this is actually quite important—liberation, awakening, is not something you get. Awakening is not something you get. It's not a badge: "Okay, I've passed the first stage of awakening, enlightenment. You know, I've got it! I've got the badge, yay!" It's not something you get. Awakening is not a thing you acquire. It's a gift. It's a gift that uplifts you and uplifts others. It's a gift that uplifts your heart and uplifts others. So it's a gift, it's a letting go, it's a giving, it's a gifting. You realize that awakening is a gift, really. It's a gift that you cultivate to give. To give to the world, to give to this being who is you. So generosity is the ground for awakening.

And it is said that the two wings of the bird of awakening... one wing is compassion, the other wing is wisdom. Wisdom and compassion. And generosity, of course, supports both. It supports compassion, we know this, because compassion comes from the generosity of our heart. When we care for someone, or with self-compassion, there's a sense of generosity: "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," instead of, "Well, it should be this way. You should be feeling..." There's a generosity of spirit that supports compassion for ourselves and for others. It's an act of giving. It's a giving of love, it's a giving of care, a giving of mettā. And similarly, generosity supports cultivating wisdom.

I'll get a little detailed for a moment. Cultivating wisdom means seeing the three characteristics of existence: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and impersonality or not-self. Not-self, it's not personal. Generosity supports us and helps with cultivating wisdom, seeing these three characteristics of being human.

When you're generous, it helps you to see impermanence; they're intertwined. It is impermanent: things come, things go. "Yes, I let go of this thing, this object, my time, my affection," etc. It arises and passes. It's not for us to keep. It's not for us to hang on to. You know, here's this bell—oh, it's not for us, it comes, it goes. Generosity helps us cultivate and really see anicca^[8], impermanence.

Also with dukkha^[9], unsatisfactoriness. There is unsatisfactoriness in holding on to something, holding on to everything for our own sake. We know this. The sense of scarcity, the sense of tightness that can actually create unsatisfactoriness, can create suffering. Generosity can help us see and work with dukkha.

And perhaps most importantly, there's anattā^[10], which is not-self, impersonality. Ultimately, generosity helps us see that it's not about me, and it's also not about you. That there is no separation between the giver and the receiver. And on some level, there is no giver, there is no receiver. I'll leave that as a kōan^[11].

It is said that the gift of the Dharma is the biggest gift. And I like to invite you not to just think of that as being a Dharma teacher and talking Dharma. Dharma is much more expansive, the vision of what Dharma is. You can give the gift of Dharma to a friend, to a colleague, to a parent with your presence.

We say, "Don't talk about Buddhism, be a Buddha." This is often what we say at the end of retreat. When people go home, everybody's excited, they want to go home and proselytize and tell everybody, "You should go on retreat!" We tell people, "Okay, don't talk about Buddhism, but be a Buddha. Be a Buddha." So show up. Show up with kindness, show up with generosity of spirit. That is the biggest gift. It's the gift of Dharma. You're giving a gift of Dharma to others. You're enabling their heart, you're enabling their Dharma, their beauty, their goodness to glow and grow as you give them the gift of your presence, your gift of your Dharma. We can all give the gift of Dharma with our presence, with the way we show up in the world, the way we can be a Buddha. You don't necessarily need to talk about it.

And the last thing I wanted to say briefly: generosity of spirit is also thought to be the pillar of joy. Here's a reference for those who like to read: the book by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu called The Book of Joy. They talk about eight pillars of joy, which is a beautiful book. Highly recommended. Actually, I spent a series during happy hour last year covering the different pillars. When they get to the last pillar, they get to generosity, and they say actually, generosity of spirit in many ways includes all the other pillars of joy. It includes compassion, it includes gratitude, it includes forgiveness, humor, humility, acceptance, and wise perspective. It includes everything. So basically, if you practice that generosity of spirit, everything else is included in that.

And I like to end with this invitation: can we expand our view of generosity, this generosity of spirit towards ourselves and towards others? Can we offer everything we do, everything we say, everything we think? Can we consider our life as an offering, as an act of generosity? Can everything be a gift? Can we consider our life, the way we live, what we think, say, and do as an offering to others, as an offering to ourselves? What if we consider that, set that intention? Even if we align with it just for a few seconds or minutes a day, it will grow. It can grow and transform the way we show up and the way we live.

So with this invitation, dear ones, this brings to a close this week we have spent together, which has been lovely for me. I thank you. I thank you for the generosity of your spirit in showing up, practicing, and cultivating your heart for yourselves and for the benefit of all beings everywhere. Thank you. May you be well. May you be happy.