Dāna

Dāna is selfless giving,

Dāna (Pāli, Sanskrit: दान dāna) is generosity or giving. In Buddhism, it is also the practice of cultivating generosity. Ultimately, the practice culminates in one of the perfections (pāramitā): the perfection of giving (dāna-pāramitā). This can be characterized by unattached and unconditional generosity, giving and letting go.

Dāna as a formal religious act is directed specifically to a monastic or spiritually-developed person. In Buddhist thought, it has the effect of purifying and transforming the mind of the giver.

Generosity developed through giving leads to being reborn in happy states and the availability of material wealth. Conversely, lack of giving leads to unhappy states and poverty.

Buddhists believe that giving without seeking anything in return leads to greater spiritual wealth. Moreover, it reduces the acquisitive impulses that ultimately lead to further suffering.

Gifts in the Hindu Dharmaśāstras

Hindu law breaks the giving and receiving of gifts down by caste, as it does other activities. Each caste has its own rules and regulations on the topic of religious gifts. Manu explains that the reason for this is to ensure the protection of all creation, of how things should be. Brahmins can both receive and give gifts. Kṣatriyas are allowed only to give gifts, as are the vaiśyas. Manu does not even speak of the śūdras as being related to giving gifts in this part of his text, but rather states, “A single activity did the Lord allot to the śūdras, the ungrudging service of those very social classes.”Brahmins can accept gifts, but only under the right circumstances and from the right people. If a brahmin has enough to sustain himself and his family, he is then not to ask for gifts. If, however, he finds himself in a time of trouble and he anticipates struggling for his maintenance, he may seek gifts from the king. It is the duty of the king to supply proper livelihood for a brahmin in distress. Brahmins would not, however, seek gifts from a king that was not of the kṣatriya lineage, nor from any greedy king, or a king who disobeys the śâstras.

Manu makes it clear under his section on Accepting and Giving Gifts that the acceptance of gifts is a special occurrence, and should not be taken for granted. If a man, a brahmin, becomes accustomed to this, his vedic energy will eventually become extinguished. Kane elucidates this: “though entitled to accept gifts, a bramana should not again and again resort to that method, since the spiritual power that he acquires by vedic study is lost by accepting gifts.” It is crucially important to know the law on how to accept a gift, which is why brahmins are the only ones to be able to do so, since they are learned in the Vedas. It is said that when a man who is not learned accepts certain gifts, he is then reduced to ashes, like a piece of wood. These certain gifts have the ability to burn up different parts of the ignorant man’s life, such as his land, his sight, his offspring, and his life-force, to name a few. In this way, an ignorant man should fear any gift, for it has the ability to make him sink "like a cow in the mud". In the same way, the donor must be weary of who really is learned and worthy of accepting his gifts.It is important also that both the giver and the receiver share the same respect when giving and obtaining gifts. “When due respect is shown in accepting and in giving a gift, both the receiver and the giver go to heaven; but when the opposite happens, both go to hell.”

Beyond accepting gifts, a man should tirelessly give sacrifices and offerings daily in the spirit of generosity. If a man gives every day with the right spirit and from his justly earned wealth, he will become boundless. He is to pick a worthy recipient, a brahmin and give as often as he can to this man. Doing this religiously solidifies hope that one day he will encounter this recipient, who will then save him from all that is.

When it comes to the gifts that are being given, each item brings the donor something to his own life. For instance, he who gives sesame seeds obtains desirable offspring, he who gives food obtains inexhaustible happiness, he who gives an ox obtains bounteous prosperity, he who gives land obtains land, he who gives a bed obtains a wife, and the list goes on. The gift of the Veda, which only a brahmin would be able to give, far exceeds any other gift, however.

It is important that the giver is truthful about what he has given or how he has made a gift or sacrifice. A sacrifice is lost by telling a lie about it. In the same way, a man must not flaunt his asceticism, for by doing so this too will be lost. The Nāradasmṛti also touches on the topic of gifts in the Dharmaśāstra, but only briefly. This smrti takes a different approach from Manu to giving and receiving gifts. It is a more concise advance on the subject. Here we find that there are specifically four kinds of gifts in legal procedures: what should and should not be given, along with legitimate and illegitimate gifts. Going further into these stipulations, it says that there exist “eight kinds of things which should not be given, one kind of thing which may be given, seven kinds of legitimate gifts, and sixteen kinds of illegitimate gifts.” The Nāradasmṛti is easy to read in this way, because it has a funnel effect. The topic of gifts starts out rather broad with the four classifications of gifts and narrows down into lists of examples of each of the types of these former classifications.

P.V. Kane focuses on much of the literature on penances. This different subject, however, has much to do with gifts. It is said that on the day of commencing penance, the sinner must, among many other things, give dāna (gifts such as gold, cows, etc.) to the brahmanas and feed them. Earlier in this volume, Kane references other smṛtis that write on this same act. Gold, a cow, a dress, a horse, land, sesamum, clarified butter and food are all gifts that destroy sin. Also, the gifts of gold, cows, or land can quickly exonerate sins, even those committed in a previous life. It is understood that gifts are the principle expiations for Hindu men.

Once accepted, a gift is irrevocable. “What is promised should be given and what has been donated should not be taken back.” This means that if the donor promised a gift to someone, he must give that gift, or he will become a debtor. The only time that a gift transaction need not be completed is when the receiver is guilty of irreligious or improper conduct. Otherwise, any gift given cannot be revoked, and any gift promised could result in debt.

The knowledge of gifts in Hindu Law is important because gifts are used also under the topics of varṇa, food, sin and penance, duties of the king, and so on.

See also

Alms

Gift economy

(source:wikipedia)

Charity

In modern usage, the practice of charity means the giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.

Etymology

The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".

Originally in Latin the word caritas meant preciousness, dearness, high price. From this, in Christian theology, caritas became the standard Latin translation for the Greek word agapē, meaning an unlimited loving-kindness to all others, such as the love of God. This much wider concept is the meaning of the word charity in the Christian triplet "faith, hope and charity", as used by the Douay-Rheims and the King James Version of the Bible in their translation of St Paul's Letter to the Corinthians. However the English word more generally used for this concept, both before and since (and by the "King James" Bible at other passages), is the more direct love. (See the article Charity (virtue))

St Paul's agapē was not primarily about good works and giving to the poor (And though I feed the poor with all my goods, and though I give my body, that I be burned, and have not love [agapē], it profiteth me nothing - 1 Cor 13:3, Geneva translation, 1560), although in English the word "charity" has steadily acquired this as its primary meaning, wherein it was first used in Old French at least since the year 1200 A.D..

Practice

See also: Alms

A Hindu Woman Giving Alms, painting by Raja Ravi Varma

Charitable giving is the act of giving money, goods or time to the unfortunate, either directly or by means of a charitable trust or other worthy cause. Charitable giving as a religious act or duty is referred to as almsgiving or alms. The name stems from the most obvious expression of the virtue of charity is giving the objects of it the means they need to survive.

The poor, particularly widows and orphans, and the sick and disabled, are generally regarded as the proper objects of charity. Some groups regard charity as being properly directed toward other members of their group. Although giving to those nearly connected to oneself is sometimes called charity—as in the saying "Charity begins at home" -- normally charity denotes giving to those not related, with filial piety and like terms for supporting one's family and friends. Indeed, treating those related to the giver as if they were strangers in need of charity has led to the figure of speech "as cold as charity" -- providing for one's relatives as if they were strangers, without affection.

Most forms of charity are concerned with providing food, water, clothing, and shelter, and tending the ill, but other actions may be performed as charity: visiting the imprisoned or the homebound, dowries for poor women, ransoming captives, educating orphans. Donations to causes that benefit the unfortunate indirectly, such as donations to fund cancer research, are also charity.

Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic order dedicated to caring for the poor

The recipient of charity may offer to pray for the benefactor; indeed, in medieval Europe, it was customary to feast the poor at the funeral in return for their prayers for the deceased. Institutions may commemorate benefactors by displaying their names, up to naming buildings or even the institution itself after the benefactors. If the recipient makes material return of more than a token value, the transaction is normally not called charity.

Originally charity entailed the benefactor directly giving the goods to the receiver. People who could not support themselves—or who feigned such inability—would become beggars.

Institutions evolved to carry out the labor of assisting the poor, and these institutions are called charities. These include orphanages, food banks, religious orders dedicated to care of the poor, hospitals, organizations that visit the homebound and imprisoned, and many others. Such institutions allow those whose time or inclination does not lend themselves to directly care for the poor to enable others to do so, both by providing money for the work and supporting them while they do the work. Institutions can also attempt to more effectively sort out the actually needy from those who fraudulently claim charity. Early Christians particularly recommended the care of the unfortunate to the charge of the local bishop.

In Islam this is called Zakat, and is one of the five pillars upon which the Muslim religion is based.

There have been examinations of who gives more to charity. One study conducted in the United States found that as a percentage of income, charitable giving increased as income decreased. The poorest fifth of Americans, for example, gave away 4.3% of their income, while the wealthiest fifth gave away 2.1%. In absolute terms, this was an average of $453 on an average income of $10,531, compared to $3,326 on an income of $158,388.

Today charity has evolved into a much more modern concept and there many people choose to donate to charities online through websites such as Xperedon or Just Giving.

Examples

Charity is the first and foremost principle of the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, and the Freemasons.

Charity is also used as a forename, intended to evoke the idea that one so named is a giving person.

(source:wikipedia)