The Dana Parami: Bringing Generosity Into Form

This essay is the first of a series on The Ten Paramis, and is based on a talk given by Mark Donovan at Prescott Insight Meditation on January 13, 2026

Last week Carol gave an overview and introduction to the paramis, which we will be exploring together over the next ten weeks.  The paramis are ten noble, virtuous qualities that we can cultivate in our daily lives.  While the entire list is not found together as a whole in the Pali canon– the oldest Buddhist texts in which our tradition is based– these qualities are referred to individually in the suttas.  The paramis found their fruition in the Mahayana tradition and the ideal of the bodhisattva, a spiritual practitioner who is devoted to liberation from suffering for all beings. 

The word paramii derives from parama, "supreme," and suggests the eminence of the qualities. Paramita, the word preferred by the Mahayana texts and also used by Paali writers, is sometimes explained as ‘gone to the beyond," and indicates the transcendental direction of these qualities.  As Carol noted, cultivating the paramis leads us in the direction of both compassion and liberation.

Tonight I will talk about dana paramis.  Sean Oakes, a Spirit Rock teacher, says it can be helpful to distinguish between the Pali words for giving (dana) and generosity (caga).  “Generosity is an emotion and an intention, while giving is the action that follows, bringing our intention to fulfillment.  Generosity turns our attention away from what we can get and keep for ourselves toward what we can offer to others.  The emotion of generosity contains aspects of all the brahmaviharas –lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity– as we feel how easily we can help others in need, and how much satisfaction it can give us.  Bringing generosity into form as giving asks us not to just wish well for others but act to support their well-being.” 

Gil Fronsdal says the practice has two important functions: “First, it helps connect us with others and with ourselves. Giving creates a relationship between the giver and receiver, so acts of generosity help us to learn more about the nature of our relationships. It also develops those relationships. Practicing generosity together with a meditation practice helps ensure that our spiritual practice doesn’t occur aloof from others.  Second, through the practice of generosity we begin to understand where we are closed, where we are holding back, where we feel our fear. We learn what keeps us from being generous. We take on the practice to see where we resist it.”

The Buddha says: And what is the accomplishment of generosity? Here, a noble disciple dwells at home with a mind free from stinginess, freely generous, open-handed, delighting in relinquishment, one devoted to charity, delighting in giving and sharing.   

Dana was the first teaching the Buddha shared with a practitioner because he considered it the most accessible and practical, the most easily practiced, and the most beneficial. Practicing dana cultivates joy, softens attachment, builds interconnectedness, and fosters happiness by letting go.  The Buddha typically followed a series of steps in what is referred to as a gradual or graduated training, anupubbasikkha in Pali, because each step progressively builds on the prior one and advances one’s spiritual path.  This was originally intended as a curriculum for monks and nuns.  The first step is dana, followed by sila/ethics/nonharming, then mindfulness and concentration, and so on with teaching of the Four Noble Truths much further down the list.

"Bhikkhus, I do not say that final knowledge is achieved all at once. On the contrary, final knowledge is achieved by gradual training, by gradual practice, by gradual progress." —Majjhima Nikāya 70

"Just as when you climb a set of stairs, where each step takes you slowly higher and you are not leaping from the first floor to second all at once, the Gradual Training progressively leads to development on the Buddhist path." — Udāna 5.5

Nikki Mirghafori describes how Generosity is interconnected with, and informs, the other parami: “One who embodies generosity of spirit has no need to harm, steal, lie, and so on, and naturally offers the safety of non-harming (sila) and truthfulness (sacca) to others. Practicing giving requires renouncing what is given (nekhamma). Through generosity we develop insight (pañña) into the three marks of existence. Being part of the circle of giving and receiving, we are energetically engaged (virya) and interconnected. Generosity does not come about overnight but is cultivated through patience (khanti) and determination (adhitthana). When we care for someone (metta), generosity instinctively flows, and in turn, generosity strengthens metta; these two, perhaps, are really one and the same. Finally, one who perfects generosity is at peace with the comings and goings of things and experiences, which is synonymous with the jewel of equanimity (upekkha).”

It’s important to develop awareness of our intentions and motives in giving and to notice if we are giving with a pure heart.  Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia writes: There are two suttas in the Aṅguttara Nikāya wherein the Buddha offers pointers to help us notice the ways we give and our reasons for giving. These suttas outline a broad range of means and motivations, some more skillful than others. A skillful approach calls for an impartial examination of our actions and motivations in each act of giving. The idea is to notice our experience so that we can discover for ourselves what feels best, what makes us happy.

With generosity as a spiritual practice, we notice that sometimes we give with annoyance, out of exasperation, or even as a way of offending or insulting the recipient (such as to teach someone a lesson). If someone pesters us because they want something from us, for example, we may give in. “Here! Take it!”

We may give out of fear or shame.  Maybe we make a generous offering at the end of a retreat, despite the fact that we have very little money at the time, because we are too ashamed of our financial situation and try to offset that with an offering that we can’t really afford.

Sometimes our giving has a tit-for-tat quality. For example, we may know that someone gave to us and so we give in return for the favor. This is quite common in social settings where we might invite someone to dinner because they invited us at an earlier time. It’s a pay back. Or, perhaps we are giving in hopes of getting something from them in return.

Sometimes our views come into play and we give because we “think” it’s a good idea. If we Look and see we may realize this kind of giving is based more in the head than in the heart. 

We can give out of altruism, our sole intention being to help those in need. The Buddha noted that this kind of giving is one of the blessings of having enough wealth to share with others. 

But the Buddha said that the most excellent motive for giving is to beautify and ennoble the mind. Most other forms of giving contain some form of intention for gain or comfort. Even giving for altruistic purposes can be filled with views and craving. The Buddha said that at its best dāna has to do with purification of the heart. In order to enhance our ability for enlightenment, we gradually rid the mind of the ugliness of greed and selfishness. He said that we should actually be doing it for that purpose. “Having given thus, not seeking his own profit, not with a mind attached [to reward], not seeking to store up for himself…but with the thought, ‘This is an ornament for the mind…[one] does not come back to this world.” (A 7.49) Literally, one is a non-returner, released from samsara from greed, aversion and delusion.

There’s a story in the Vināya (Mahāvagga 8:15) about a very generous laywoman who lived at the time of the Buddha. As the story goes, she wanted to give a large gift to the community—lifetime gifts of food, clothing and medicinal requisites. Before agreeing to receive this offering, the Buddha asked Visakha why she wanted to make such a generous offering.

She said that when she sees the monks and nuns she will know that they are wearing robes made out of the cloth that she offered, etc., and it will make her very happy. Thus, her mind will be calm and her meditation will go well. As if to say, “Yes, that’s the right answer,” the Buddha accepted her gift.

Nikki Mirghafori says: Generosity does not and cannot come into its full fruition with an attitude of grim duty. The attitude of “I should be generous” or “I should let go” is one of forced expectation, and it works as well as hitting a donkey with a stick. The poor animal will move a few paces, then stop. Offering carrots, in contrast, can provide aspiration, where we take on a practice as a training with curiosity, interest, perhaps even zest, giving it our heart. We each know this from our own lived experience: when we feel bright with inspiration, we want to offer our time, skills, and resources for the benefit of another.  Thomas Jefferson: “Every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.”

In the Dana Sutta, the Buddha instructed his followers to pay attention to the joy of generosity: “In this world…there are three things of value for one who gives. What are these things? Before giving, the mind of the giver is happy. While giving, the mind of the giver is made peaceful. After having given, the mind of the giver is uplifted.” 

There are many ways we give and are generous.  We can be generous with our time and with our attention.  This may be taking the time to visit with a neighbor or with the grocery cashier.  Many of us perform service work in the community.  We can be generous with our care of a family member or friend who is sick and suffering.  Yesterday evening I was in the checkout line at the grocery store.  I was third in line in a line of about six people.  The person checking out had mistakenly chosen the wrong product that was not on sale.  The cashier kindly and generously offered to walk back to get the correct product, which seemed to take forever.  I noticed my irritation and impatience, and then consciously chose to be patient, which felt like a form of generosity. 

Historically the Buddha noted three forms of giving.

• Amisa-dana is the giving of material things, such as robes or food to monks, or necessities to those in need. In our modern context, it could also be presents for those who are close to us.
  
• Dhamma-dana: Traditionally, the monastics offer the teachings and practices of the Buddha to lay people. It is a gift the monks can offer back to those who have offered amisa-dana. However, dhamma-dana in a general sense can also be the advice, information, and guidance we offer to our friends, to those we teach, and to those we help.
  
• Abhaya-dana is the gift of non-fear. It is considered to be the greatest gift.  This involves protecting beings from harm, acting ethically, creating a virtuous cycle where selfless giving builds inner security, compassion and freedom from fear for both the giver and receiver.
  

And what about receiving generosity? The heart’s capacity to receive kindness is not distinct from the ability to give it; when we think of generosity, we may overlook the importance of being able to receive from others and the world, as well as the ability to offer generosity to ourselves. When we cultivate metta in ever-widening concentric circles, we start with ourselves. Only then do we expand to our benefactors, good friends, neutral beings, those we have challenges with, and finally, all beings. Nikki Mirghafori says: If we experience sharing as the Buddha described it, it may not be obvious who is the giver, who is the receiver, and what is the gift. If we do not practice both receiving and giving, then the practice does not deepen.

Notice the offerings you are receiving in this very moment: the air that is supporting your life, the seat that is supporting your body, your ability to hear these words and your mind making meaning. Each act of graciousness widens the capacity of our heart to feel abundance and, in turn, opens it further to share with others.

Putting dana into practice this week:
As an intentional practice, there are innumerable exercises in generosity that can be helpful. For example, give yourself a week to give a twenty-dollar bill to someone you don’t know. Watch what happens during that week. What does it bring up for you, how do you react, what do you learn about yourself in that situation? Jack Kornfield teaches a practice of acting on every impulse to give, no matter what, during a twenty-four hour period. If that seems too difficult, you could limit it to the practice of giving small things. Another practice is to give a dollar to every home- less person you encounter during a certain period of time.

Generosity is not limited to the giving of material things. We can be generous with our kindness and our receptivity.  Generosity can mean the simple giving of a smile or extending ourselves to really listen to a friend.