I discuss the oldest source of Buddhist teachings on Dana as a bodhisattva perfection – the Jataka tales, or stories about Shakyamuni Buddha’s remarkable actions during previous lifetimes. Such stories inspired people to follow the bodhisattva path in both Theravadin and Mahayana Buddhism, so I spend some time discussing the Theravadin paramis, and particularly the parami of Dana.
Quicklinks to Article Content:
Paramis, or Bodhisattva Perfections, in Theravadin Buddhism
Jataka Tales: The Buddha Practices the Paramis in Past Lives
Later Developments of Paramis in Theravadin Buddhism
Teachings on the Theravadin Parami of Dana
The Theravadin and Mahayana Bodhisattva Path Contrasted
In the first episode of this now four-part series on Dana, I gave an overview of the Buddha’s teachings on the virtue of giving. These teachings were from before Dana was defined as one of the paramis or paramitas, which are perfections cultivated by someone on the bodhisattva path – that is, someone aimed at complete Buddhahood.
In this episode I discuss the oldest source of Buddhist teachings on Dana as a bodhisattva perfection – namely, the Jataka tales, or stories about Shakyamuni Buddha’s remarkable actions during previous lifetimes. Such stories inspired people to follow the bodhisattva path in both Theravadin and Mahayana Buddhism, so I spend some time discussing the Theravadin paramis, and particularly the parami of Dana.
In the next part of this series, I will begin talking about the Mahayana approach to Dana, which focuses on the emptiness of the three spheres of giver, receiver, and gift and continues to present an ideal of complete selflessness.
Paramis, or Bodhisattva Perfections, in Theravadin Buddhism
As I described in the first episode of this three-part series, the Buddha praised the virtue of Dana, or giving, very highly, but it is not included in any of the lists of core Dharma teachings such as the Eightfold Noble Path or the Seven Factors of Awakening. Giving was viewed as a basic prerequisite for practice, but not as an activity that in and of itself would lead to liberation as the Buddha taught it. Generally speaking, the emphasis on the bodhisattva perfections like Dana are associated with Mahayana Buddhism, a development that took shape hundreds of years after the Buddha lived and taught.
However, the bodhisattva perfections, called paramis in Theravadin Buddhism, have been a part of non-Mahayana traditions from early on. Theravadin monk and scholar Ajahn Thanissaro writes:
In the early centuries after the Buddha’s passing away, as Buddhism became a popular religion, the idea was formalized that there were three paths to awakening to choose from: the path to awakening as a disciple of a Buddha (savaka); the path to awakening as a private Buddha (pacceka-buddha), i.e., one who attained awakening on his own but was not able to teach the path of practice to others; and the path to awakening as a Rightly Self-awakened Buddha (samma sambuddha)… There’s a common misunderstanding that the Theravada school teaches only the savaka path, but a glance at Theravada history will show that many Theravadins have vowed to become bodhisattvas and have undertaken the practice of the ten perfections as set forth in the Theravadin Jatakas.[i]
In the early Buddhism of which Theravada is probably the best extant example, the complete liberation of the savaka (Sanskrit shravaka) led to arhatship and was seen as a very noble and admirable attainment. Although the arhat was not going to be born again in this world, as long as he or she was alive they were a great example for others and would freely share the Dharma with anyone who asked. The pacceka-buddha (Sanskrit pratyekabuddha) was admirable but couldn’t teach others because their path of practice was unique to them. A buddha was seen as having achieved the awakening of the arhat but also, over their lifetimes of work on the perfections, special abilities to teach the Dharma. They were able to perceive the needs and capabilities of all beings and apply appropriate, effective methods (skillful means) to help them achieve liberation.[ii]
Jataka Tales: The Buddha Practices the Paramis in Past Lives
The Jatakas are tales that purport to relate the virtuous actions of Shakyamuni Buddha in his many previous lifetimes, as he was cultivating the paramis and working toward complete buddhahood (which he achieved in the lifetime when he was born as Siddhartha Gautama). (See Episode 11 where I talk more about Jataka Tales.) Sometimes the Buddha is said to have been incarnated as a person, sometimes as an animal, but the tales generally describe how the Buddha faced a challenge of some kind and then responded with superhuman virtue – whether that virtue was generosity, moral integrity, wisdom, or one of the other paramis.
The Cariyapitakapali, or “Book of Basket of Conduct,” is part of the Pali Canon and contains numerous short Jataka tales. In one of the most remarkable of the tales about Dana, the Buddha was a King named Sivi. He had diligently practiced giving and had the thought that there was nothing he had not yet given except his own eyes. King Sivi thought, “Whoever asks me for my eye, I will give without wavering.”[iii] Shakka, the supreme deva or heaven realm being, was aware of Sivi’s thought and decided to test him. Shakka appeared before the king as an old, frail, blind person and asked for one of the king’s eyes, reasoning that this would allow both men to see. Shakyamuni Buddha, relating this tale of his past life, says:
“Having heard [the beggar’s] words, overjoyed and with a deeply agitated mind;
With folded hands and happiness, I spoke these words.“‘Here I was thinking, having gone to the mansion;
You knowing my mind, came begging for [my] eyes.“‘O my thinking has been accomplished, my intention is fulfilled;
Never given before, the highest giving, I will give today to the beggar.“‘[Then the buddha inside of King Sivi tells him] Come Sivaka get up, don’t be sluggish and don’t tremble;
Give away both eyes, to the one in need who has come’.“Thus urged by me, Sivaka did my words;
Having taken [them] out he gave [my eyes], to the shaking beggar.“Desiring to give, while giving, and having given;
My mind was not otherwise, because it was for enlightenment.“I didn’t hate my eyes, I didn’t hate myself either;
Omniscience was dear to me, that’s why I gave the eyes”.[iv]
Jataka tales often – like some of the Buddha’s teachings on giving that I discussed in the last episode – describe such an extreme manifestation of a particular virtue that few of us could imagine emulating the action literally. In another famous Jataka story, for example, the Buddha leaps from a cliff to feed a starving tigress with his body to prevent her from eating her own cubs.[v] Such ideals inspire and challenge, and make the nature of a virtue like Dana clear in a way that a story about ordinary generosity would not. We’re also meant to appreciate the supreme degree of discipline and sacrifice required by the bodhisattva path as opposed to the savaka (shravaka) path, where we practice diligently but are only seeking our own liberation.
Significantly, in the King Sivi story, the Buddha explains that his previous incarnation made his act of supreme generosity for the sake of enlightenment, or omniscience (the extra powers of a buddha compared to an arhat). He states that King Sivi did not hate his eyes, or himself. What would it mean for us to give something because we “hate” what it is we’re giving, or “hate” ourselves? I think hating the gift would mean we are rejecting or demeaning the value of whatever can be given, perhaps because we are clinging to a dualistic view about the material versus spiritual realms – thinking, “I shouldn’t care about or be attached to this thing, so I will give it away.” Similarly, we might hate ourselves, deliberately punishing or depriving ourselves, or at least willfully denying ourselves something we feel too much desire for.
The Buddha’s words in the King Sivi Jataka tale, suggest, in contrast, that the perfection of giving is based on an aspiration to progress along the path to enlightenment and buddhahood. We should examine what this means, so this teaching becomes relevant to us. We could practice giving because we know it’s a parami and we hope that cultivating it will mean we get to enjoy the rewards of enlightenment someday, but this could still be a rather insincere, transactional act. To make Dana a parami, we would not only go through the action of giving but, like King Sivi, would, “Desire to give, while giving and afterwards.” Our lack of self-concern and non-attachment to any source of comfort or pleasure would leave only a sympathetic delight for the benefit experienced by the receiver of our gift.
Later Developments of Paramis in Theravadin Buddhism
Some non-Mahayana Buddhists were inspired by the ideal of the bodhisattva path, so they developed their own set of paramis and associated teachings. In the introduction to his translation of Acariya Dhammapala’s “Treatise on the Paramis,” Theravadin monk and scholar Bhikkhu Bodhi explains:
Through its conservative bent and relative insulation from the other schools, the Theravada managed to resist the metamorphic changes taking place elsewhere in the Buddhist world, preserving the teachings as compiled at the early councils without radical alterations of their doctrinal framework. Nevertheless, in this school as well from a period even preceding the rise of the Mahayana, the figure of the bodhisattva began to make inroads into both its literature and spiritual atmosphere.[vi]
Bhikkhu Bodhi says the Theravadin interest in the bodhisattva path made sense, given that the Buddha often referred to himself as a “bodhisattva” when referring to the period preceding his enlightenment (both previous lives and his life as Siddhartha Gautama). The Pali canon also mentions a multiplicity of Buddhas, mentioning numerous buddhas who preceded Shakyamuni and predicting a future one, Metteyya (Maitreya in Sanskrit). This suggests that it is not impossible for someone to become a Buddha, especially if they are determined and willing to dedicate many lifetimes to the task.
Nonetheless, Bhikkhu Bodhi continues, the dominant attitude in Theravadin Buddhism was that the bodhisattva path was reserved only for the “very rare and exceptional individual.” While there were detailed teachings on the attainment of Nirvana through practice of the Eightfold Path, the paramis were for a long time “treated only in broad and general terms.” However, Bhikkhu Bodhi says:
As time passed, however, perhaps partly through the influence of the Mahayana, the bodhisattva ideal must have come to acquire an increasing appeal for the minds of the Buddhist populace, and the need became felt for a work that would explain, in a practical style, the factors and phases of the parami[ta] path without deviating from the conservative doctrinal perspective of the Theravada.[vii]
In response to this need, Acariya Dhammapala composed “Treatise on the Paramis,” perhaps around the 6th century. In it, he discusses the ten Theravadin paramis and how to practice them in great detail. Bhikku Bodhhi says that Dhammapala drew on both Theravadin and Mahayana material for his treatise, but “never deviates from the Theravada perspective.”
In “Treatise on the Paramis,” Dhammapala explores the ten Theravadin paramis of giving (dana), virtue (sila), renunciation (nekkhamma), wisdom (panna), energy (viriya), patience (khanti), truthfulness (sacca), determination (adhitthana), loving kindness (metta), and equanimity (upehhka). (Note that five of these are the same as the six Mahayana paramitas, namely giving, virtue, wisdom, energy, and patience. The extra Mahayana paramita not included in the Theravadin list is dhyana, meditation or concentration.) Dhammapala says the paramis are the “ten dhammas culminating in Buddhahood,” saying of them:
The condition of the paramis is, firstly, the great aspiration… which occurs thus: “Crossed I would cross, freed I would free, tamed I would tame, calmed I would calm, comforted I could comfort, attained to nibbana I would lead to nibbana, purified I would purify, enlightened I would enlighten!”[viii]
And:
All the paramis, without exception, have as their characteristic the benefitting of others; as their function, the rendering of help to others, or not vacillating; as their manifestation, the wish for the welfare of other, or Buddhahood; and as their proximate cause, great compassion, or compassion and skillful means.[ix]
From the Theravada point of view, then, the bodhisattva is a profoundly generous being, working extra hard so their practice will eventually culminate in a lifetime in which they achieve complete buddhahood and are able to skillfully lead many other beings to awakening. Although Dhammapala’s treatise shows that Theravadin Buddhism developed its own teachings about the paramis and bodhisattva path, it’s still clear that this path is considered to be extremely difficult and ambitious. Not only does one have to be reborn as a man (as opposed to a woman) in order to fulfill it (according to Dhammapala), one has to cultivate a wholesome desire for buddhahood so intense that:
If he were to hear: “Buddhahood can only be attained after being tortured in hell for four incalculables and 100,000 aeons” – he would not deem that difficult to do, but would be filled with desire for the task and would not shrink away. Such is the magnitude of the desire required.[x]
Of course, this isn’t saying that you can only achieve buddhahood after eons in hell, just that no matter how hard, painful, or protracted your path of practice becomes, you will not be discouraged.
Teachings on the Theravadin Parami of Dana
What does Dhammapala have to say about Dana, the perfection of giving? Quite a lot! In explaining the order in which the paramis are initially undertaken, he says:
Giving is stated first, for giving assists (the development of) virtue and… (a) because it is common to all beings, since even ordinary people practice giving; (b) because it is the least fruitful, and (c) because it is the easiest to practice.[xi]
When Dhammapala says giving is the least fruitful of the virtues, he means this in terms of progress along the bodhisattva path. This echoes the way the virtue of giving is portrayed in the teachings of the Buddha, as I discussed in the first part of this series – that it is a basic prerequisite of practice, but in and of itself it doesn’t lead you to insight into the Four Noble Truths and thereby to awakening. As I explained in the last Dana episode, the Buddha taught that giving was, in fact, incredibly fruitful – but this fruitfulness is experienced in rewards in this life or in terms of a more fortunate rebirth. This “worldly benefit” aspect of giving is probably why Dhammapala says it is the easiest parami to practice.
Dhammapala describes giving further:
Giving has the characteristic of relinquishing; its function is to dispel greed for things that can be given away; its manifestation is non-attachment, or the achievement of prosperity and a favorable state of existence; an object that can be relinquished it its proximate cause.[xii]
So, the opportunity for giving arises every time we end up with something that can be given away, and practicing giving helps us dispel greed and attachment. This relinquishment is not just a cold act done for the sake of our own spiritual discipline, but is, Dhammapala says, “accompanied by compassion and skillful means.”
In his treatise on the paramis, Dhammapala describes things the bodhisattva-aspirant should keep in mind while practicing the virtue of giving. He says it’s helpful to reflect on the many difficulties that come along with possessions and possessive relationships, including the fact that such things are desired by many people so you have to compete to obtain and retain them; they can be confiscated by the authorities or taken by thieves; the possession of them sparks off disputes, and many terrible things can happen when one loses them. Given these difficulties, “the act of relinquishing these things is one step to safety.” While few of us would choose to give away our prized possessions or divest ourselves of our many relationships, most of us have experienced the relief that comes from owning less and simplifying our lives. We can look at acts of giving as an opportunity to do just that.
Dhammapala suggests that when someone asks us for something, we should look on them as a good friend for reminding us that we can’t bring any of our possessions into the world beyond. By asking they allow us to perform the noble act of giving. If we aspire to the bodhisattva path, we should reflect that, since life is bound to end, we should give even when not asked. The treatise lists points of reflections, including: “Just as I would benefit myself, so should I benefit all the world.” And: “How can I give, and after giving be elated, exultant, filled with rapture and joy? And how can [the receivers of my gift] be so on my account?” And: “How can I relinquish my own life and limbs to those who ask for them?”
Should states of greed arise for things that can be given away, Dhammapala says, the bodhisattva-aspirant should reflect:
…when you made the aspiration for full enlightenment, did you not surrender this body as well as the merit gained in relinquishing it for the sake of helping all beings? …what distinction can be made between the internal material elements (of the body) and the external material elements (of the world)? They are both subject to inevitable breaking up, dispersal, and dissolution. This is only confused prattle, the adherence to this body as ‘This is mine, this am I, this is my self.’
The Theravadin and Mahayana Bodhisattva Path Contrasted
With this reference to the not-self nature of things, Dhammapala’s treatment of the parami of Dana is not unlike Mahayana teachings on the paramitas and Emptiness, as we will see in the next episode in this series. What makes Dhammapala’s treatise – to use Bhikkhu Bodhi’s words – one that “never deviates from the Theravada perspective”? I’m not a scholar and don’t know exactly what Bhikkhu Bodhi meant, but I would say the Theravada and Mahayana approaches to the paramitas and bodhisattva path differ not so much in effect but in flavor and emphasis. This will become apparent, I think, in the next episodes on Dana, as we delve into the Mahayana teachings. To summarize very briefly, though, as I see it (and I hope this seems balanced and not too biased):
- In Theravadin Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a practitioner who is deeply inspired by the great skillfulness and compassion of buddhas. They not only seek the spiritual liberation of the arhat, but also to cultivate the spirit of selflessness and service through the practice of the ten paramis. They understand and accept that training to be a masterful Dharma teacher may take lifetimes of effort.
- In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a practitioner who seeks to awaken to and embody their non-separation from all beings. They cultivate the paramita of wisdom – insight into Emptiness – but also the other paramitas, because such practice supports awakening, benefits living beings, and embodies the truth of interdependence.
Stay tuned for parts 3 and 4 of this series on Dana!
Endnotes
[i] “The Ten Perfections: A Study Guide”, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/perfections.html
[ii] “Arahants, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas”, by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/arahantsbodhisattvas.html.
[iii] PDF book: Bhikkhu-Mahinda-Cariyapitaka-Edition-1 (https://api.learnbuddhism.org/files/internal/Bhikkhu-Mahinda-Cariyapitaka-Edition-1.pdf)
[iv] Ibid
[v] Jatakamala TK
[vi] Bhikkhi Bodhi in The Discourse on the All-Embracing Net of Views: The Brahmajala Sutta and Its Commentaries (BPS, 1978), Pariyatti Publishing – Kindle Book, Introduction
[vii] Ibid
[viii] Ibid, A Treatise on the Paramis
[ix] Ibid
[x] Ibid
[xi] Ibid
[xii] Ibid
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