Metta and the practice of generosity
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One of the most immediate implications of practicing lovingkindness (metta) in daily life as well as in meditation is becoming more generous. You don’t need to think about generosity purely in terms of giving material goods or money. In fact the traditional Buddhist approach is to see material giving as just part of the picture - a picture that includes other ways of giving.
As well as material things, we can give our time and energy; we can give our attention; we can give thanks; we can give encouragement; we can give people the initiative. There is no limit to the ways in which we can be generous. What we need to develop is a spirit of generosity that expresses itself in many ways, but all of the ways in which we can give are just ways of making ourselves available to help others.
Walt Whitman said, “When I give, I give myself,” and that statement perfectly sums up the spirit of giving through metta.
Dhardo Rimpoche’s gift
A greatly respected Tibetan lama called Dhardo Rimpoche, who founded a school in India for the children of Tibetan refugees, was once in the middle of performing an elaborate devotional ceremony. Tibetan devotional ceremonies can take a long time, and involve chanting, musical instruments, and complex gestures, all of which have to be performed at exactly the right time. In the middle of this particular ceremony, a child wandered into the room and asked for help with his homework.
Many of us have been in the situation where we’re caught up in some task that involves a lot of concentration when there’s an interruption. It’s hard in such a situation to respond to the demand that’s been placed upon us, and often our response is to dismiss the other person - perhaps unkindly - treating them as if they’re an obstacle to our happiness. But that’s not what Dhardo Rimpoche did. Without giving it a second thought, and in a graceful spirit of generosity, he stopped the ceremony, turned to the child, and gave him the help he needed. He didn’t do this grudgingly; he gave his full attention to the child.
To Rinpoche, helping a child do his homework was as important as a devotional ceremony. Perhaps we could even say that for him helping others was a form of devotional ceremony.
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