THE PRACTICE OF GIVING: THE THREE TYPES OF GIVING
Master Jun Hong Lu: First, let’s talk about the perfection of giving. What does it mean? When you see all the sufferings of life, you develop compassion in your heart, and you channel all your energy into helping others so that all deluded beings are able to abandon suffering and gain happiness.
Everyone knows that there are three kinds of giving. The first is the giving of material things to transform the suffering of others. Many people say, “I have everything in life, never worrying about not having food on the table or anything to wear”. When you give to such people, your giving is a make-believe.
On the other hand, if you give to the poor, the destitute, or even those who are deprived of food, and for that, they are extremely grateful to you for having saved their lives, this is what true giving is about.
In addition, the sponsoring of printing of books that guide sentient beings back to the right path, and inspire the Buddha-nature in them, is also a form of giving of wealth. Hence, it is said that the printing of such books is very important because such publications are capable of completely transforming other people’s lives.
The second is the giving of fearlessness. Among the three kinds of giving, this one is lesser known. I will elaborate a bit more about this today. When you go all out to help those who are in pain and suffering, say, those who have just undergone a breakup, and feeling hopeless, or some troubled souls by investing your time and using the warmth of your heart to comfort them, such acts were previously known as, “The Great Fearless Spirit”. In this spirit, you are selfless and the welfare of others is your sole concern and for that, they find solace. In fact, if you are able to wipe away all fears in them, you are essentially performing the giving of fearlessness.
There is another type of giving of fearlessness. In the face of slanders that others hurl at you or the right dharma, if you are able to uphold justice without any fear whatsoever with the intention to guide the other party to the right path, rather than to defeat them, this is also giving of fearlessness.
The third type of giving is the giving of dharma. All of you know that when you help others to be spiritually awakened or when you distribute dharma books, they are considered the giving of dharma. In fact, the true giving of dharma is when you use Buddhist knowledge acquired to comprehend the dharma, and you share and propagate the teachings with people around the world so that they too can benefit.
When you managed to convince others to practise the dharma, and they begin to find joy in their lives, break through their illusion and become enlightened as a result, this is considered a successful case of the giving of dharma.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Volume 12 Chapter 11
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