Almsgiving in Buddhism, Bangkok
Researched
by- Myoma Myint Kywe
ဦးျမင့္ၾကြယ္ ( ၿမိဳ ႔မ ျမင့္ၾကြယ္ ) သမိုင္းပညာရွင္
ဆိုရွိကိ
ကရာေတးအသင္း နည္းျပခ်ဳပ္
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| Alms-giving ceremony on Nov 23rd, 2014 in Bangkok |
Generosity
or charity
or alms or alms-giving involves giving to others as an act of virtue,
either materially or in the sense of providing capabilities (e.g. education)
for free. In Buddhism, alms or alms-giving is the respect given by a lay Buddhist to a Buddhist monk, nun, spiritually-developed person or
other sentient being.
In
Buddhism, "alms-giving" and, more generally, "giving" are
called "ทาน dana". Alms giving is one of the most
common practices among Buddhists. It's a way to support the monks, who
study and practice the Buddha's teachings, by offering them food and goods.
Alms (ทาน)
are money or goods given to those in need as an act of charity. The word “alms”
is used many times in the Buddhism.
(Remark: Although the Sangha Vinaya specifies a prohibition on accepting and handling gold and silver, the real spirit of it is to forbid use and control over funds, whether these are bank notes or credit cards. BUT, The Vinaya even prohibits a monk from having someone else receive money on his behalf. In practical terms, monasteries are financially controlled by lay stewards, who then make open invitation for the Sangha to ask for what they need, under the direction of the Abbot. A junior monk even has to ask an appointed agent (generally a senior monk or Abbot) if he may take up the stewards' offer to pay for dental treatment or obtain medicines.
(Remark: Although the Sangha Vinaya specifies a prohibition on accepting and handling gold and silver, the real spirit of it is to forbid use and control over funds, whether these are bank notes or credit cards. BUT, The Vinaya even prohibits a monk from having someone else receive money on his behalf. In practical terms, monasteries are financially controlled by lay stewards, who then make open invitation for the Sangha to ask for what they need, under the direction of the Abbot. A junior monk even has to ask an appointed agent (generally a senior monk or Abbot) if he may take up the stewards' offer to pay for dental treatment or obtain medicines.
If
a layperson wishes to give something to a particular monk, but is uncertain
what he needs, he should make an invitation. Any financial donations should
not be to a monk but to the stewards of the monastery, perhaps mentioning if
it's for a particular item or for the needs of a certain monk.
For
items such as travelling expenses, money can be given to an accompanying anagarika
(dressed in white) or accompanying layperson, who can then buy tickets,
drinks for a journey or anything else that the monk may need at that time. It
is quite a good exercise in mindfulness for a layperson to actually consider
what items are necessary and offer those rather than money.)
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| Donating foods and goods |
The
lay people line the side of the road in groups and as thousands of monks pass,
they offer the food. With the mass alms giving that we attended and donated yesterday
at 6:00 am
- 8 am (23rd November, 2014). My family offered alms
foods, medicines and goods to monks.
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| Lay people in front of central world |
Thailand
is best known as a devout Buddhist country like our Burma (Myanmar). Offering
food to the Buddhist monks is a free will, compassion and voluntary
giving ritual for the people to practice in their daily life.
Dana is generosity or
giving, a form of alms. In Buddhism, it is
the practice of cultivating generosity. Ultimately, the practice culminates in
one of the perfections (paramita):
the perfection of giving - dana-paramita.
We can charity alms
foods, and material goods not only to monks but also needed
people.
The
practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need.
Charity is humanitarian act of temporal principle.
Buddhists
believe that giving without seeking anything in return leads to greater
spiritual wealth.
Moreover,
it reduces the greedy impulses (urge) that ultimately lead to continued suffering from egotism.
The
Buddhism views charity as an act to reduce personal greed which is an
unwholesome mental state which hinders spiritual progress.
A
person who is on his way to spiritual growth must try to reduce his own
selfishness and his strong desire for acquiring more and more.
http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books4/Dhamminda_Bhikkhu_A_Life_Free_from_Money.htm
