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Feeding Demons Tsultrim Allione on Joyful GIving

In Joyful Giving, found in our January magazine , six Buddhist teachers Karen Maezen Miller, Judy Lief, Jan Chozen Bays, Gina Sharpe, NormanFischer, and Tsultrim Allione look at why generosity is the starting placeof all the virtues. Heres Tsultrim Alliones contribution, Feeding Demons.There is a story of a rich man who said that he could not practice generositybecause he was unable to give anything away. The Buddhas advice to himwas to begin by simply taking a piece of fruit and passing it from one handto the other. The Buddha told him to notice how it felt to let the fruit go andhow it felt to receive it. Using this method, the man began to experienceboth the joy of giving and the pleasure of receiving. Eventually he became agreat benefactor.Like that rich man, we may nd that giving does not arise spontaneously andthat we need to train in it. The ego-clinging mind always feels a sense ofscarcity, so you might think, I barely get along with what I have. How can Ipossibly give anything to anyone else? There are, however, many ways topractice giving that transcend monetary and material means. You could givesomething simple like a poem, words of encouragement, or an act ofkindness. True generosity brings the giver a feeling of openness, along withthe enjoyment in the happiness of others.Even imagined gifts can be powerful. There is a story about the greatBuddhist king Ashoka that illustrates this. The story goes that a poor childwas playing by the side of the road when he saw the Buddha begging foralms. The child was moved to make an o ! ering, butwith nothing else togivehe spontaneously collected some pebbles and, visualizing them asvast amounts of gold, placed them in t he Buddhas alms bowl. Due to thisact, in his next life the child became the powerful, wealthy King Ashoka andbeneted countless beings.To take the practice of generosity a step further, you can infuse generositywith the view that there is no inherent separate existence in the giver, thegift, or the receiver. This view, known as the threefold emptiness, turnspracticing generosity into something beyond simple virtuous action. It helps

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us not be attached to the outcome of giving, thus setting us free from anyexpectations.In chd, a Tibetan meditation practice developed by the famed eleventh-century yogini Machig Labdrn, generosity is practiced for the purpose ofsevering ego-clinging. Chd practitioners deliberately go to frighteningplaces, such as a cemetery at night, and visualize making their body into ano ! ering. Since these places provoke fear and clinging to the body, theo ! ering is a direct confrontation with the ego. Many kinds of guests areinvited to this imagined banquet, including personied forms of diseases,fears, and demons. As the guests arrive for the feast, chd practitionerskeep the view of three-fold emptiness and o ! er their body, which theyvisualize as nectar that satises all desires. The intensity of making the bodyo ! ering in a frightening place is designed to push the practitioner into astate free from all clinging.Although we may not be a chd practitioner who deliberately goes to scary

places, we still meet plenty of frightening inner demons, such as depression,anger, and anxiety. When this happens we have the opportunity to feed, notght, these demons with the nectar of love and compassion. This goesagainst the grain of ego-clinging and allows the inner demons to transforminto allies.Heres an idea: choose a day to devote to the practice of generosity. Maybeone Saturday from the time you get up until you go to bed, see how manyopportunities you can nd to be generous. Start by passing an object fromone hand to the other mindfully. You might cook someone breakfast, o ! eryour seat on the subway, make a donation, or spend some time with a child

or someone having a hard time. See how many ways you can give in one day.Notice your motivation, how it feels to do it, and the reactions of others. Atthe end of the day, recall all the ways you were generous. Notice how youfeel and what happened as a result of your generosity.