On one occasion the Buddha and Ananda had entered the city to gather alms and they saw a group of children playing beside the street. The children were playing make believe, building homes and storehouses out of piles of sand that they had gathered. They were also pretending the sand was rice, which they stored in their sandy storehouses. One of the children saw the Buddha and innocently held up some of his sand-rice with his cupped hands and offered it to the Buddha. The Buddha received it with a smile.

Ananda was quite perplexed—why would the Buddha accept this pile of sand? Once they had returned from their alms round, Ananda joined his palms together and asked respectfully, “Lord Buddha, what merit can there be in that child’s gift of sand? Why did you accept it?”

“Have you forgotten, Ananda? The Buddha never considers the beauty or value of a gift, but instead cares about the sincerity of the act. That child had a mind that was undefiled and free of discrimination, and because of this he was able to perform a supreme act of giving. It should not be treated with scorn. As for the child’s merit in offering the sand, one hundred years after my nirvana, the child will be born as the king of a great country, and his name will be Asoka.¹ The other children playing with him will all become his ministers and will support his rule. That child will make the Triple Gem of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha flourish in the human world and he will build 84,000 reliquary stupas. This will enable those who already believe to increase their roots of goodness, while those who do not yet believe will have the opportunity to attain liberation.”

The Treatise on the Perfection of Great Wisdom mentions three kinds of giving. The first is the giving of wealth and property, with the other two being giving fearlessness, and giving the Dharma. A description of each of the three is provided below:

1. Giving Wealth
   We give wealth so that we can relieve the suffering of those who are poor or sick and ensure their survival.
2. Giving Fearlessness
   If we uphold the precepts and cultivate patience and harmlessness, we will not seek revenge upon any foe or enemy. Such a person treats all life with loving-kindness, so that there is no need for fear or trepidation. When we have such limitless compassion, we can remove the fears of others, even if it puts a risk to our own personal safety, allowing living beings to develop faith in the Dharma.
3. Giving the Dharma
   By teaching the true Dharma, we can bring others to cultivate what is wholesome and get rid of what is unwholesome, and allow living beings to attain enlightenment and realize their self nature. Diligence will allow us to tirelessly persist in pursuing what is wholesome, meditative concentration will allow us to know the minds of living beings like a bright mirror or still waters, and our wisdom will help us to smoothly handle affairs and teach the Dharma correctly.

The Diamond Sutra teaches that we should “give without notions,” which includes the three kinds of giving mentioned above, but extends and transcends them. The relevant passage is quoted below:

“Moreover, Subhuti, within this phenomenal world, a bodhisattva should practice giving without abiding in anything. This means that he should not give abiding in form, nor should he give abiding in sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas. Subhuti, a bodhisattva should not give abiding in any notion whatsoever. And why is this? If a bodhisattva gives without abiding in any notion whatsoever, then his merit will be immeasurable.”

“Subhuti, what do you think, can the vastness of space to the east be measured?”

“No, it cannot, World-honored One.”

“Subhuti, can the vastness of space to the south, west, north, up, or down be measured?”

“No, it cannot, World-honored One.”

“Subhuti, when a bodhisattva gives without abiding in any notion, his merit is just as immeasurable. Subhuti, a bodhisattva should abide in this teaching and this teaching alone.”

(Diamond Sutra, Chapter 4)

The Diamond Sutra makes extensive use of the phrase “wuxiang bushi” (無相布施), “give without notions.” This concept has wide-ranging meaning, but can be summarized by saying we should give and receive as the Buddha did in the opening story: without any notions or concepts based in phenomena, ideas, or outward appearances with which to discriminate or diminish ourselves as givers, who we give to, or what we give. There should be no clinging to the notions of self, others, sentient beings, or longevity, nor should one cling to the six sense objects of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and dharmas. The merit of giving without notions is limitless.

Source: Hsing Yun, Four Insights for Finding Fulfillment: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Diamond Sutra, Los Angeles: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2012.

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Footnote:

1. Asoka the Great (304-232 BCE) was a Buddhist monarch of the Mauryan Empire, and the first to unite the region we now know as India. Asoka sponsored many Buddhist missions to other countries, and is largely responsible for Buddhism spreading throughout Asia. He is considered a model for Buddhist kingship. Ed.