Feed the needy: Food Not Bombs (volunteer)

Pat Macpherson, Irma Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; FoodNotBombs.net

WANTED: Looking for enthusiastic and committed new members for the Reseda Chapter of Food Not Bombs. Help is particularly needed from those willing to drive and/or those with transportation to carry goods.

Willing to cook and prepare healthy food using goods provided? All help is welcome!

We provide fresh produce and vegan food FREE for the community. If interested, please contact us via Craigslist email. We appreciate all volunteers! We are active only on Sunday afternoons. For more information about the organization, visit FoodNotBombs.net.

No Satanic sex killers, please. Unless you have a van with the windows blacked out...or other transportation. No, no, not even if you have transportation. Thanks!

Motives for Gift Giving (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly translation based on Ven. Thanissaro, "Discourse on Generosity" (Dana Sutta, AN 7.49)

Giving has the added benefit of resulting in easier meditative absorption (adbusters)

 

Sariputra was wise to ask (TA)

CAMPA, Gaggara Lake, ancient India - Ven. Sariputra said to the Blessed One: 

"Does one person give a certain gift that does not bear great fruit and benefit, whereas another person gives the same gift and it bears great fruit and benefit?"

 

"Yes, Sariputra."

 

"Venerable sir, why, what is the cause, what is the reason?"

 

The Buddha answers (TA)

1. "Sariputra, in one case a person gives a gift seeking profit, with a mind/heart attached [to gaining some reward], seeking to store up [merit with the thought], 'I'll enjoy this after death.'
 

"One gives a gift -- whether food, drink, clothing, transportation, garland, sweet scent, balm, bedding, shelter, lamp -- to a wandering ascetic or Brahmin. What do you think, Sariputra? Might one give such a gift?"

 

"Yes, venerable sir."

 

"Having given such a gift seeking profit with heart/mind attached, seeking to store up [merit with the thought], 'I'll enjoy this after death' -- on the break up of the body, after death, one reappears in the company of the Four Great Space Kings. Then, having exhausted that karma, that power, that status, that sovereignty, one returns, falling back to this plane.

 

2. "There is a person who gives a gift but not seeking profit, mind/heart not attached, not seeking to store up [merit with the thought], 'I'll enjoy this after death.' Instead, one gives a gift with the thought, 'Giving is good.' ...What do you think, Sariputra? Might one give such a gift?"

 

"Yes, venerable sir."

 

"Having given this gift with the thought, 'Giving is good,' on the break up of the body, after death, one reappears in the company of the devas ["shining ones"] of the World of the Thirty-Three. Then, having exhausted that karma, that power, that status, that sovereignty, one returns, falling back to this plane.

Sariputra's sacred relics (Camerabhai/flickr)

3. "Or instead of thinking 'Giving is good,' one gives a gift with the thought, 'This was given in the past, done in the past, by my relatives. It would not be right for me to let this family tradition end'... on the break up of the body, after death, one reappears in the company of the [Yāma] devas of delight. Then, having exhausted that karma, that power, that status, that sovereignty, one returns, falling back to this plane.

 

4. "Or instead... one gives a gift with the thought, 'I am well off. They are not well off. It would not be right for me, being well off, not to give a gift to those who are not well off'... on the break up of the body, after death, one reappears in the company of the contented devas. Then, having exhausted that karma, that power, that status, that sovereignty, one returns, falling back to this plane.

 

5. "Or instead... one gives a gift with the thought, 'Sages of the past made great sacrifices -- Atthaka, Vamaka, Vamadeva, Vessamitta, Yamataggi, Angirasa, Bharadvaja, Vasettha, Kassapa, and Bhagu. Just so will this be my contribution'... on the break up of the body, after death, one reappears in the company of the devas who delight in creating. Then, having exhausted that action, that power, that status, that sovereignty, one returns, falling back to this plane.

The Buddha and his four chief monastic disciples, male and female, Wat Yai Chai Mongkol (Mongkhon) in Ayutthaya, Thailand (Rainer Lott/Steffi Esch/flickr.com)

 

6. "Or instead... one gives a gift with the thought, 'When this gift of mine is given, it makes the heart/mind serene; appeasement and joy arise'... on the break up of the body, after death, one reappears in the company of the devas who wield power over others' creations. Then, having exhausted that karma, that power, that status, that sovereignty, one returns, falling back to this plane.

 

7. "Or instead of thinking, 'When this gift of mine is given, it makes the mind/heart serene; appeasement and joy arise,' one gives a gift with the thought, 'This is an ornament for the heart/mind, a support for the mind/heart.' One gives a gift... What do you think, Sariputra? Might one give such a gift?"

 

"Yes, venerable sir."

 

"Having given this -- 

1. not seeking profit, not with a heart/mind attached, not seeking to store up [merit with the thought], 'I'll enjoy this after death,' 
2. nor with the thought, 'Giving is good,' 
3. nor with the thought, 'This was given in the past, done in the past, by my relatives, so it would not be right for me to let this family tradition end,' 
4. nor with the thought, 'I am well off...,' 
5. nor with the thought, 'Sages of the past made great sacrifices... in the same way this will be my contribution,' 
6. nor with the thought, 'When this gift of mine is given, it makes the mind serene; appeasement and joy arise,' 

The Buddha and arhats (Horus2004/flickr)

7. "but with the thought, 'This is an ornament for the heart/mind, a support for the mind/heart' -- on the break up of the body, after death, one reappears in the company of Brahma's Retinue. 

"Then, having exhausted that karma, that power, that status, that sovereignty, one is a non-returner. One does not come back to this plane.

"This, Sariputra, is why, this is the cause, this is the reason one person gives a certain gift and it does not bear great fruit or benefit, whereas another person gives that gift and it bears great fruit and benefit."

Buddhist Global Relief, L.A. (Bhikkhu Bodhi)

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Bhikkhu Bodhi (BuddhistGlobalRelief.org)

Monastics in Theravada Burma tour by foot promoting generosity or dāna (mirror.co.uk)

  

Buddha in walking pose

Join Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Quarterly, Dharma Punx, Dharma Vijaya, Insight LA, and others for a day of compassionate action to promote food aid, sustainable farming, and education for girls and women in Asia, Africa, North America, and Haiti. Where? Santa Monica, California. When? Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013. How? Check in time begins at 8:30 am and continues until the walk starts at 9:30 am. We will begin and end at Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society (West), 1001a Colorado Blvd., Santa Monica 90401-2809. The distance we will cover is three miles looping through the beautiful beachside city and tourist mecca of Santa Monica (Los Angeles). Register online or donate. To give life a percentage of the proceeds will benefit the Westside Foodbank.

• Info: Tom Moritz (310) 963-0199 (tom.moritz@gmail.com)

(BGRelief) Ven. Bodhi presents the mission of Buddhist Global Relief

at Clodagh Design, New York City in November 2009.