Buddha said: What are pure donations?

Pure giving, of course, means giving with a pure heart, which means that the mind is free of dwelling.

This corresponds to impure giving. Please read Nanshi’s teachings:

The Buddha told Vyasa that although some people have done good deeds, they have brought utilitarianism with them. Without a pure mind, it is not considered true charity. He listed thirty-three types of impure and impure charity:

The first type is money given with a distorted mentality, upside-down views, and an impure heart. This is not true charity.

Second, someone bought me a piece of cake yesterday, and I want to return the gift today; or he helped me more than ten years ago, and now I want to help him when he is in trouble. These are all reciprocations of favors, reciprocity of courtesy, not charity.

The third type is when someone gives away money, not out of true compassion, pity and compassion, but to show off their generosity, or simply to make others trouble, this is not considered charity.

The fourth type is because you have desires. For example, if you like this bouquet of flowers and pay an extra cent if you see it; or if you go to a dance hall and feel that the lady is very beautiful, give an extra two tips. None of it counts as charity.

For the fifth and sixth types, throwing property into fire or water cannot be regarded as charity. Because water and fire are natural things, if you throw away your property in vain, it will not benefit others.

The seventh type is when someone gives a gift to a big shot in the hope that he will be promoted and taken care of in the future; or for the sake of a big boss or a big shot, he or she contributes to charity relief. Come on, this is not pure charity.

The eighth way is to give money quickly to eliminate disasters if you are afraid that powerful gangsters will come to rob you. This is not charity.

The ninth type is to give others opium, heroin, narcotics and other drugs. This is not charity. But when the doctor sees that the patient is in too much pain, he gives an anesthetic to relieve the pain. This is charity. There is a lot of truth here to study.

The tenth type is giving away weapons, which is not charity. My son bought me a self-defense knife the day before yesterday. He put a dime under the knife. I called him and asked him what he meant. He said that the American rule is that giving a knife to someone is not to make someone commit suicide. Putting a dime on it is a sign of good luck. I don’t understand this, but he is really giving!

The eleventh type is to give meat to others. That is killing a living being and giving it to others. This is not considered charity.

Twelfth type, you adopted many orphans, protected them, and raised them into adults. But if you expect to be able to use them to be your helpers in the future, this comes with prerequisites, and it cannot be said to be pure charity.

The thirteenth type, giving for the sake of fame is not pure charity.

The fourth type is giving money to support singers and actors. For example, a singer holds a disaster relief singing concert and receives tens of millions of donations a day. This singer has done good things, but the person who provided the money may not be clean. Give alms. When the singer is not singing, why don't you give alms? Some people come here to support singing stars, and there is a difference.

Fifteenth: Some people go bankrupt and their property is transferred to others. This is not voluntary, so it is not charity.

Sixteenth type, for example, if the house is haunted and you no longer dare to live in it, give it to a monk to use as a temple; or if your house is in trouble because of a lawsuit, you might as well give it to a social charity organization. This is not considered pure charity.

The seventeenth type is that some people know that helping others is a good thing because they have studied Buddhism or received education, but they have no money, so they use other people’s property as a favor. This is not considered charity.

Type 18: Grain is eaten by rats, birds, etc. in fields or warehouses. It is not intentionally given to them to eat, and it cannot be said to be a donation. Speaking of which, I remembered that the newspaper two days ago revealed that a batch of rice sent to the disaster-stricken areas in mainland China was found to be moldy during transportation at the dock. This is not charity. On the contrary, people who eat moldy rice will be poisoned, and the people who give it are creating bad karma.

Type 19, if my computer is broken, I will ask an expert in this field to repair it, treat him to a meal, and give him money. This is the reward you should pay if you want to learn something, not charity. There are no conditions for giving.

Type 20: For example, if a patient is afraid that he is going to die, he gives the doctor a big red envelope, thinking that the doctor will be devoted to him.

This is giving money to others when they ask for something, not charity.

No. 21: Hitting someone or scolding someone, making yourself feel embarrassed, and then giving him something to apologize is not considered charity.

Type 22: After someone gives alms, he or she wonders whether they are deceiving him or whether they will repay him in the future. This is not considered alms.

Type 23: Someone feels sad and regrets after giving alms. This is not alms. When I was young, I studied Buddhism in Sichuan. When someone was in trouble, I stood up and offered to help him. People favored me. Later, an old man advised me not to go begging for others anymore. Why? He said there is an old saying in Sichuan, "Persuading people to give money is like cutting flesh with a dull knife." Although people give you face, the person feels sad. ah! He also told me a joke: There is a big devil causing trouble in the place, and even Sun Wukong cannot conquer it. Later, a young monk was sent from Xitian Buddha, but the devil didn't take him seriously at all. The young monk said that he was not here to conquer him, but just to show him something. As he said this, he took out an alms book from the yellow cloth bag on his back and said, "Lord, please write a few strokes!" When the devil saw it, he said, "Wow!" and ran away.

So, when people talk about giving, I don’t talk about it easily. After some people give money away, the more they think about it, the more they regret it, and the more they regret it, the more they can't sleep. "Those who give money in this way are not giving pure charity."

Twenty-fourth, there are also people who give things to others, as if this person has sold them to him from now on, and they will definitely repay him in the future. This is not pure giving.

Twenty-fifth, some grandparents recite mantras and give alms, and their accounts can be checked. Look at what they recite the "Heart Sutra" and "White Clothes Mantra", recite a section of sutra, and stamp it on yellow paper. A seal says, "How many rolls have I recited and taken to the underworld after death? I don't know if one roll costs twenty-eight yuan or thirty-five yuan." This is tantamount to investing and getting a lot of good returns in the future, including capital and profits. "Those who give in this way are not pure giving."

Twenty-sixth, when a person reaches old age, is seriously ill and is about to die, he feels pain and knows that time is running out, so he does not pass on his property to his children, but gives it away. This is not considered a pure donation, because you already know that you cannot control your wealth, and it does not belong to you if you don’t donate. If you don’t have a pure mind, it still won’t work.

Type 27: Giving alms for the sake of reputation. I hope to appear on TV, hope to be widely advertised in newspapers, and hope that everyone will be grateful to me. This is not pure giving.

The twenty-eighth type, for example, seeing that Dr. Huang offered ten yuan, I would offer fifteen yuan. Boss Cai was not convinced and offered twenty yuan, covering both of us. Giving away money out of comparison or jealousy is not charity.

The twenty-ninth type is to show off your extravagance for the sake of lusting after women and give away all kinds of precious things such as gold, silver, jewelry, silks and satins. That is because you are pursuing beautiful women, not giving.

The 30th category is that some people are willing to give away their property to others because they have no children. This is a good deed, which is good, but from the perspective of Buddhist teachings on giving, it is not considered pure giving. .

Number 31: Select the recipient of the gift based on merit and merit. Such giving is not pure giving.

Type 32: Giving should first provide help in times of need, and help the poor. If you look at the merits but not the downgrades, and only do things that are icing on the cake, it is not considered pure charity.

The thirty-third type is to give up things and people for flowers and fruits. This is not charity. This is a very light one.

In the Buddhist teaching of giving, every article here is a precept when studied.

The thirty three kinds of impure charity mentioned above are just a general rule, and there are many more recorded in the scriptures. The Buddha told Vyasa that these impure donations would not bring about the results of the true Buddhist path. At most, they would only be the results of cultivating the immortal path. The Buddha used seeds as a metaphor. As a karmic act, giving is equivalent to sowing seeds. "Official giving" with impure motives is like seeds planted in saline soil, which will not yield a good harvest. Moreover, the function of the seed itself ("seed realm") is not only in an interdependent relationship with the quality of the land ("land realm"), but also requires sunlight, air and rain for the seeds to germinate. Although seeds will not germinate if placed in a glass bottle, they will not bear fruit if they are sown on barren soil without the moisture of rain.

Excerpted from "Fayin" Issue 9, 1998