The Varied Karmic Results of Dāna

Question: What is the karmic retribution for intentional giving?

Answer: Subjective and proactive giving, undertaken to cultivate personal merit, naturally results in the karmic retribution of gaining blessings in future lives. Such giving neither infringes upon nor harms others' interests, nor does it obstruct others from obtaining benefits. Moreover, the recipient of the giving also gains advantage, thus the outcome is one of mutual benefit. If the giving is performed with the motivation to attain Buddhahood and cultivate merit for the salvation of sentient beings, the merit and blessings accrued in this life and future lives will be even greater. If the giving is done without any specific purpose or expectation—simply encountering the opportunity to give and acting accordingly, responding to conditions with a mind of emptiness—this merit is the greatest. The merit of non-action is supreme, as taught by the Buddha in the Diamond Sutra.

The practice of giving follows a progression. Initially, one practices giving to accumulate blessings for oneself. When the mind expands further, one practices giving for the benefit of sentient beings; such giving constitutes paramita, leading to the shore of liberation. When the mind expands even more, attaining emptiness and absence of volition, the giving performed is non-active, capable of receiving a prediction of Buddhahood. The expansiveness of the mind is determined by one's merit. When merit is small, the mind is narrow; when merit is great, the mind becomes vast. Therefore, the ability to generate the Bodhi mind and make great vows also relies on the support of merit. With great merit, one's vision broadens, seeing far into the future, and wisdom becomes boundless and unobstructed.