When fifth-century monk-scholars shaped a list of the heart-mind characteristics of the Bodhisattva’s path to buddhahood, these Paramis, or “Perfections,” began with generosity. The sequence was a reflection of the way the Buddha offered his teachings: the Buddha’s first talk in a new community was usually about generosity. Probably the Buddha began with generosity partly because he recognized that it is and has been so widely accepted as one of the most basic human virtues by so many cultures. But there was a more important reason: Generosity is a foundational building block of spiritual development and his most important teachings.
In an unfamiliar village, he regularly used a particular sequence of teachings: he began with a talk about generosity, then spoke about morality, then about karma, then about the benefits of renunciation. When he felt that his listeners had understood all these teachings, only then did he give his first talk on suffering, its cause, and its end, the Four Noble Truths. He would explain that a universal condition of life is dissatisfaction– stress or suffering whose cause is clinging or attachment. Therefore, the end of suffering is nonclinging or nonattachment, and the path to liberation begins with generosity, the natural antidote to greed or clinging. The great value of generosity would become clear to the newcomers.
Clinging or attachment cannot exist at the same time as true generosity. By cultivating generosity, we can bring an end to
clinging, an end to attachment, to stinginess, to greed to material things — even to our most cherished ideas and sense of self.
In the Buddha’s teachings, one strong cluster focuses on the way we can cultivate generosity: (1) By relinquishing external or material things to benefit others; (2) by giving others the gift of freedom from fear; and (3) by giving others the Dharma.
Through this practice may our hearts be open to give and to receive with ease and joy.
Jean Smith has practiced Buddhist meditation in the Vipassana-Insight Meditation tradition since 1986 & has led sanghas in New York City, the Adirondack Mountains & online from Taos NM. She has published nine books on Buddhism, including The Beginner’s Guide to Insight Meditation (with Arinna Weisman) & Life is Spiritual Practice (the Paramis) (from which this piece is excerpted). Jean serves on the board of The Mountain Hermitage. She is shown in in the photo riding her beloved golden palomino horse Cody at the age of 86.
different way. More like a field scientist gathering data. You start to see more clearly: When this happens, it leads to that. For example, when my kid starts screaming and throws herself on the floor then tightness arises in my chest, there is anxiety, and helplessness and frustration. Out of that, the urge to raise my voice, to do something to get this to stop is increasing. How interesting! If I am able to actually be aware of this process mindfully and with curiosity then the miracle of choice opens up. I can choose the response that is the most in alignment with my values, for example to not yell at my kids. Victor Frankl is quoted to have said that between the stimulus and the response there is a space. And in that space lies our freedom to choose. It can free us from the habit loop, from reacting on autopilot. 
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The patience gained from intensive or regular meditation at home will come in good stead in our daily life when we have to deal with the imperfections of ourselves & others. Others’ speech may be timely or untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, connected with good or with harm, spoken with a mind of loving-kindness or with inner hate. Whatever others might be saying, we need to abide in patience, compassion, and loving-kindness.
Each of you reading this article are in this moment experiencing the gift, protection & the grace…the great blessing of having obtained a precious human existence. It’s rare, this precious human existence…& especially rare from the standpoint of the Dhamma. Those who have a precious human existence with all the conditions, opportunities & blessings in place to have connected with & to be able to practice the Dhamma are as rare as daytime stars. Just being in a human body is actually a remarkably rare occurrence in light of the amazing variety & numbers of all the various life forms that inhabit this planet. Shariputta, one of the Buddha’s chief disciples, once asked the Buddha about the difference in numbers between humans & other living beings. The Buddha compared this to the dust on his fingernail versus the dirt of the whole earth.
we have obtained a precious human birth & have decided to pursue the causes of happiness & not the causes of suffering. The great East Indian teacher Nisargadtha speaks about this as “being selfish in the right way”. Rejoicing in the fact that one is alive & connected to the Dhamma is truly a blessing that lightens the heart & helps to set a tone for practice that is one of the primary factors necessary for liberation…the heart/mind/ of joy. 
FROM JANANESE ZEN POET NANAO SAKAKI:
Long ago, the Buddha was born as a monkey. He was brave & clever, and became the leader of the whole troop. The monkeys lived in a mango tree next to a river, and were very happy eating the delicious fruits. The king of the monkeys told everyone to be careful not to let any of the fruits fall in the water, in case they should come into the hands of humans.
options, and using his immense strength he leapt across the river. Once on the further shore, he found a strong creeper & tied one end around his waist & the other around a sturdy tree. Then he took a huge leap back across the river & grabbed hold of a branch of the mango tree with his hands. There he stayed, making a bridge for his followers.
THE BUDDHA’S WISE WORDS ON ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP 
As we find our presence during this late fall & early winter in relationship to various holidays, the qualities of gratitude & generosity hold a special place & opportunity for each & all of us… in our formal Dharma practices & in our life as our practice.
said was, “If beings knew, as I know, the results of sharing gifts, they would not enjoy their gifts without sharing them with others, nor would the taint of stinginess obsess the heart & stay there. Even if it is your last bit of food, you would enjoy its use more by sharing it, if there was anyone to receive it.” And a primary teaching that he offered his Monastic Sangha was, “Thus you must train yourselves: We will be thankful & grateful. Not even the least thing that is done for us shall be forgotten.” The great beauty of a way of life… the practice of the heart… a life of GIVING & RECEIVING.
May this holiday time & the upcoming new year be filled with warmth, kindness, love, gratitude, generosity, joy, and a sense of balance & equanimity for you, for your loved ones & for all beings everywhere.
We can study discourses and sermons, we can read countless books, we can hear hundreds or perhaps even thousands of talks. Although these secondary sources give us many clues about the nature of our world, only direct experience can give us true insight into the most essential aspects of our reality, especially impermanence.
A few mornings ago, I woke up & could fully take into my heart the reality that I am going to die. Usually, this feels like just a thought or idea, but this time, it landed deeply. I was struck by the Buddha’s recommendation to reflect on death daily, and this reflection brought a profound awareness of the poignancy of ordinary experiences—the routines that fill my day.
embodied mindfulness in everyday actions—walking, sitting, lying down, standing, reaching, eating, and even sleeping.
These practices disrupt the narrow, habitual ways we relate to life. They allow deeper ways of perceiving & being in the world to emerge. By tuning into the extraordinary in the ordinary, we touch something profound & mysterious that transcends the notion of “I” doing something. This insight into the selfless nature of experience can inform how we live these brief lives of ours.
What is it that enables us to move towards ‘being a Buddha?’ What makes one a true heir of the Buddha? A phrase that the Buddha often used – “ehi-passika,” come & see – is an invitation not to come & believe, but to come & see for ourselves what is true. To come & see in this way requires great interest, willingness & courage which includes a growing faith that blossoms out of our own direct experience, interest, willingness & courage to look with humility… directly, deeply, & honestly into the body, the heart & the mind… without relying on what others say is true via what we’ve heard or read. To come & see in this way requires that we don’t settle into the inertia of our habitual perceptions of, our relationships to, or our self-identifications with our inner & outer experience.
day, we were connecting with & knowing ‘where we were’ again & again in so many ways & on so many levels, that the intermediary of a Global Positioning System seemed absurd.