Guidelines for the Reader 1

Almsgiving

Perhaps the first question which would present itself to an uninitiated reader is the constant reference to the offering of food to the Buddha and his disciples by their lay supporters. Why is there so little reference to feeding the poor, for example? According to the Buddha, charity in the form of giving to the needy is indeed praiseworthy and is certainly encouraged. 

There are numerous stories in some other Buddhist books which tell us how important it is to support the poor and the needy. Anatha Pindika the philanthropist-supporter and disciple of the Buddha was one of them. His very name means 'Feeder of the Poor'. Members of the community of monks however, are the teachers of the Dhamma, and by enabling them to lead a pure and noble life, the lay devotee is helping to sustain the Essential Teachings. 

Sustaining the custodians of the Dhamma is considered a more meritorious undertaking than merely feeding the hungry. Therefore, Buddhist devotees, while supporting the needy, tend to pay more attention to providing requisites to religious and holy people so that these holy men can concentrate solely on the development of purity and doing some service to the public. 

Those who have renounced to seek spiritual development are not actively concerned about their personal needs and it is the duty of the devotee to care for them. In this way the lay devotee is partaking in spiritual activities on a larger scale. The offering of food and other requisites is traditionally followed by the giving of a sermon by the monks on some aspect of the Teaching which will help the listener in his quest for understanding and wisdom. Helping the poor ensures one's physical well-being, but sustaining the spiritually well-endowed creates the environment for spiritual development which is the Buddhist ideal. 

It must be noted that the Buddha did not encourage the support of Buddhist monks alone, but of any holy, spiritually superior being who is sincere and who teaches with Right View. When Buddhist monks themselves earned bad reputations after the violation of their precepts, the Dhammapada records how certain townsfolk withdrew such support until they mended their ways. The offering is made worthy because it is done with full confidence and given with a pure mind to one who receives with an equally pure mind. 

The stories in this book are mainly about members of the Holy Order which was established by the Buddha. This is natural, because renunciation was considered an important first step for anyone who was really concerned about seeking a way out of repeated existence (births and deaths). The Buddha's advice therefore, was generally aimed at the members of the Sangha who were closely associated with him. In this connection we may also wonder why there has been so much attention given to the robes worn by the monks. We are told about the talk generated among the monks when Devadatta was awarded a new set of robes and about a monk who was even reborn as an insect because he was unduly attached to the robes. Here we must remember that we are dealing with the social and economic circumstances in India 2500 years ago. There were many people who had become ascetics and who depended on the generosity of lay people for their requisites. Naturally, it was not an easy thing to receive a set of robes and those who were spiritually backward would have experienced much jealousy when others received these requisites which were so hard to come by. It is only the Arahants who are totally unconcerned about whether the materials they receive are expensive or whether they receive anything at all. 

Achema - 2005