Buddha Community

The Pali word for generosity is   'dana'' (or 'caga'). Dana is an important aspect of Buddhism. It is something to be cultivated  to benefit both the giver and the recipient.

"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite; their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared if there were someone to receive their gift. But because beings do not know, as I know, the results of giving and sharing, they eat without having given. The stain of miserliness overcomes their minds."

The Motivation for Giving

The suttas record various motives for exercising generosity. The Anguttara Nikaya (A.iv,236) enumerates the following eight motives:

1. Asajja danam deti: one gives with annoyance, or as a way of offending the recipient, or with the idea of insulting him.

2. Bhaya danam deti: fear also can motivate a person to make an offering.

3. Adasi me ti danam deti: one gives in return for a favour done to oneself in the past.

4. Dassati me ti danam deti one also may give with the hope of getting a similar favour for oneself in the future.

5. Sadhu danan ti danam deti: one gives because giving is considered good.

6. Aham pacami, ime ne pacanti, na arahami pacanto apacantanam adatun ti danam deti: "I cook, they do not cook. It is not proper for me who cooks not to give to those who do not cook." Some give urged by such altruistic motives.

7. Imam me danam dadato kalyano kittisaddo abbhuggacchati ti danam deti: some give alms to gain a good reputation.

8. Cittalankara-cittaparikkarattham danam deti: still others give alms to adorn and beautify the mind.

Favouritism [greed](chanda), ill will (dosa) and delusion (moha) are also listed as motives for giving. Sometimes alms are given for the sake of maintaining a long-standing family tradition. Desire to be reborn in heaven after death is another dominant motive. Giving pleases some and they give with the idea of winning a happy frame of mind (A.iv, 236).

But it is maintained in the suttas (A.iv,62) that alms should be given without any expectations (na sapekho danam deti). Nor should alms be given with attachment to the recipient. If one gives with the idea of accumulating things for later use, that is an inferior act of giving. If one gives with the hope of enjoying the result thereof after death, that is also an inferior act of giving. The only valid motive for giving should be the motive of adorning the mind, to rid the mind of the ugliness of greed and selfishness.

(From http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/wheel367.html)