The first of the perfections is dana, the Sanskrit word for generosity. Dana is a natural expression of an open heart and spacious mind. Nothing material need be added necessarily. We give things, time, attention, Dharma. And most fundamentally this refers to how we go beyond separate self, as we participate wholeheartedly in the simple functioning of life. We don’t need to decide to give, or to pick and choose how we give….it flows from oneness, from the natural connection with another’s true need. In this way we appreciate our life as our instrument of spontaneous offerings. The quality of our own being functions fully and is enough. Generosity as practice is not dependent on giving as a means to anything else. It’s not dependent on getting something back. Not dependent on anything but the immediate need that we recognize and fulfil.
Generosity is something we cultivate in practice as we manifest upaya, skill in means as an ordinary human being. If our offering is not respectful, if it’s not free of strings, then our experience will not be marked by the joy of giving with a whole heart. Generosity can bring us happiness at every stage of its expression. And in that sense we delight in the intention of giving, we delight in the actual act, and then perhaps also delight in looking back on what we gave. In this way we become aware of the motivation underlying our giving.