Alms-offering: Not Merely a Preliminary but Rather An authentic Connection with The Venerable Ones and Their Energy of Attainment
Author: Eleanor Choke-jaya
Date: 15th April 2020
Keywords: #almsoffering, #charity, #generosity, #money, #requisites, #monk, #tradition
Length: 1666 words
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The theme of generosity is a necessity for spiritual development. The practice of giving is operative in all the major schools and historical periods of Buddhism and at all levels of practice. It is a more accurate understanding of giving to see it not as a preliminary, primarily lay practice, but as standing close to the very heart of Buddhist spirituality.
Traditionally, the practice of giving is often considered a lay practice aimed at achieving a better rebirth in the next life. While there is nothing particularly wrong with this understanding, it has a serious drawback as that giving is often assumed among more serious practitioners to be a relatively lesser practice in Buddhism, superseded by the elite forms of precepts observation, scholarly study and meditation.
This assumption is inaccurate and has led to an unbalanced, distorted version of Buddhism. The practice of giving articulates the way in which lay donors and the monastics recipients establish relationships with one another. The monks make the first gesture of giving by presenting themselves to the lay people as a potential ‘worthy field of merit’. On their alms rounds, they turn up at the door of a home and offer their willing and generous availability for a relationship with the lay person living there. Typically, the lay person responds by placing an offering of food in the bowl of the alms-seeker or by providing some other kinds of needed offering, perhaps medicine or one of the other necessities prescribed for monastics.
In some cases, the giving might extend to non-material forms of offering, such as asking after the teacher’s health or uttering words of praise. Having made the offering, the lay person will typically request teachings and the monk will respond with a second act of generosity by fulfilling the layperson’s request. The practice of giving, then, is a deeply reciprocal practice between lay devotee and renunciant; each giving what is within their means to give. Each offers not only what one has but what one is.
The potential intimacy of this kind of reciprocity is not simply an exchange of food for teachings. It is not just that the renunciant needs nourishment and supplies to support their spiritual way, and that the lay devotee needs the merit produced by giving to a venerable person or the teachings that are offered.
Through the intimate meeting of donor and recipient, donors are able to participate in whatever attainment, stage of goodness the venerable monk may have attained. A renunciant’s life has been considered fully worthy only when their attainment has been shared with others; and, in the reciprocity of the relationship, the lay person has been able not just to hear indirectly about the attainment of the virtuous monk, but actually to see and taste it. Through this kind of intimate participation, donors might well find themselves transformed for life.
The theme of generosity is a necessity for spiritual development. The practice of giving is operative in all the major schools and historical periods of Buddhism and at all levels of practice. It is a more accurate understanding of giving to see it not as a preliminary, primarily lay practice, but as standing close to the very heart of Buddhist spirituality.Traditionally, the practice of giving is often considered a lay practice aimed at achieving a better rebirth in the next life. While there is nothing particularly wrong with this understanding, it has a serious drawback as that giving is often assumed among more serious practitioners to be a relatively lesser practice in Buddhism, superseded by the elite forms of precepts observation, scholarly study and meditation.
This assumption is inaccurate and has led to an unbalanced, distorted version of Buddhism. The practice of giving articulates the way in which lay donors and the monastics recipients establish relationships with one another. The monks make the first gesture of giving by presenting themselves to the lay people as a potential ‘worthy field of merit’. On their alms rounds, they turn up at the door of a home and offer their willing and generous availability for a relationship with the lay person living there. Typically, the lay person responds by placing an offering of food in the bowl of the alms-seeker or by providing some other kinds of needed offering, perhaps medicine or one of the other necessities prescribed for monastics.
In some cases, the giving might extend to non-material forms of offering, such as asking after the teacher’s health or uttering words of praise. Having made the offering, the lay person will typically request teachings and the monk will respond with a second act of generosity by fulfilling the layperson’s request. The practice of giving, then, is a deeply reciprocal practice between lay devotee and renunciant; each giving what is within their means to give. Each offers not only what one has but what one is.
The potential intimacy of this kind of reciprocity is not simply an exchange of food for teachings. It is not just that the renunciant needs nourishment and supplies to support their spiritual way, and that the lay devotee needs the merit produced by giving to a venerable person or the teachings that are offered.
Through the intimate meeting of donor and recipient, donors are able to participate in whatever attainment, stage of goodness the venerable monk may have attained. A renunciant’s life has been considered fully worthy only when their attainment has been shared with others; and, in the reciprocity of the relationship, the lay person has been able not just to hear indirectly about the attainment of the virtuous monk, but actually to see and taste it. Through this kind of intimate participation, donors might well find themselves transformed for life.
The practice of giving is not only deeply reciprocal but universal as well, not confined to the interactions of the laity and renunciants. In fact, the practice articulates the relation of any less virtue person, including the lay people and monastics, and even sometimes supernatural beings, to someone who is more virtue. In the Buddha’s time, everyone wanted to give to the Buddha and, in so doing, gains a glimpse of his enlightenment, the state for which all devotees yearn. Whether it is a child offering a gift of dirt as his only possession or a deity offering celestial flowers, all seek the kind of chance that comes from giving to the enlightened one.
Generally, the human ego is largely defined and maintained by the personal possessions, that which they consider ‘theirs’. The practice of giving, they offer up their wealth in the form of food, money or other material items, or non-material items such as expressions of devotion, praise or spiritual aspirations. When they do so, they are giving away parts of themselves. In fact, in the moment of giving, it may feel as if they are offering up their very ‘self’. This is why they resist giving to others, why the act of giving itself can be so painful, and also why it can be so liberating. Once they have offered up themselves and their very being, they are temporarily in a state of free from grasping and fixation. Then they can truly understand and incorporate the essence of selflessness and liberation. Generosity is thus the first and, in some ways, most important of the Ten Perfections.
In present Theravada Buddhist country like Thailand, in the early hours of the morning, Buddhist monks walk purposefully in a single file line down their town’s streets. The monks pause intermittently to have rice scooped into their round alms bowl by men and women positioned along the road in intervals, almost like water stations in marathons. The age and the seniority of the monks decreases along the line. Seeing this, it cannot help wondering if the younger novices, who look to be seven or eight years old, are thinking, ‘I hope enough people want to make merit today. Otherwise, our bowls and our bellies will be empty!’.
For Thai Buddhists, giving alms to Buddhist monks is not only believed to foster a spiritual connection between monks and the lay Buddhists but the community also believes they bear the responsibility to care for the physical needs of monks, and monks are expected to care for the spiritual needs of the community in return. With this logic, on the alms-round, monks will not speak to or thank the alms-giver because alms are not seen as charity. Instead, alms are an element of a symbiotic spiritual relationship between a monk and a lay Buddhist and monks are standing in the elevated status as being a respectable spiritual teacher and mentor guiding the laities to enlightened knowledge.
To these days of the virtual IT age, when Buddhist information, discussion, and so-called communities proliferate on the web, the point to consider is whether Buddhists advance the Dhamma into modernity and whether it needs to meet face-to-face with the teacher when Skype is available. A search is what to do on Google and a chat is on a discussion board, where people can say things they never say to someone’s face, making the justifications to dismiss the role of teachers and Sanghas are compelling.
Justifications always are, for example, it is inconvenient; it takes time to travel; teachers are few and far; chances are to meet other people; it is frightening, looks cult-like, etc. But for the practice of Buddhist training particularly the meditation practice, if shifting the consideration to the sheer persistence of practice, a constructive criticism, the company of other fellow practitioners who amplify effort with the energy of each other, plus the teacher’s steadfast reassurance that the students could do what they did not believe they could go beyond their limits, this is what the monks in the teaching role are for. This is what Buddhism is for. Sure, it has philosophical appeal, cultural richness, and ethical applications, but Buddhism is foremost the personal practice of transforming one’s life, a radical leap beyond the conceptual limitations of self and egocentric mind. Lets’ imagine, how quaint: a student trekking hillsides in search of Dhamma, testing oneself in face-to-face encounters with living patch-robed monk teacher.
Monks are in another angle of view considered a conduit through which a Buddhist can earn merit by giving gifts and financial support and this alms-giving furthers a Buddhist’s journey toward Nibbana or true enlightenment.
Monks who live in countries that practice Theravada Buddhism like Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Laos still rely on alms for most of their food. Alms-giving in countries that practice Mahayana Buddhism has essentially died out. In East Asian countries, giving alms was nearly impossible due to great distances between monasteries and other communities. And, in these nations, giving alms is not as closely associated with gaining merit. Asking for food is, traditionally, more looked down upon.
As mentioned earlier, alms are not limited in food or other basic necessities but can also be others for timely urgent need especially at this very moment of #COVID-19 global outbreak, the governments of those countries are trying to keep up with thousands of service requests from doctors and civilians facing fear, anxiety and exhaustion. Many cities have been living under #lock-down conditions, with many unable to travel, go out in public, or in some cases, leave their housing complex. Many have been isolated in mandatory quarantines. The donation of the supply for critically needed face mask packs, hand sanitizer, medical supplies, and other resources that are distributed to individuals and families to help them combat the #Coronavirus will accrue tremendous merit for donors.
Thankfully, Buddhist teachings offer us a wealth of wisdom to help our aching hearts and minds in times like these and to act properly. If we practice mindful consumption and refrain from hoarding 10 containers of antibacterial wipes, then those who are elderly or immunocompromised will not find the shelves bare when they need them most. When we take the steps to protect ourselves from getting sick, we protect others. One of the main lessons we all should remember is that it is not all about any particular individual. It is in fact about all of us. The on-going crisis has been reinforcing that lesson.
Apart from that, the gift of willingness to compromise one own citizen liberty by staying in-door or not responding disagreeably to being told they cannot book a cross-country flight or being banned public gatherings is truly a contribution needed. The adjustment reactions in times of crisis and the stages that one may go through is not necessarily a negative or naive response to crisis. Rather, it seems to help everyone cope and to prevent overreactions down the road.
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