Sutta 8.31 Generosity Challenge Benefits of Giving w/w Guided Dana Recollection meditation by Delson

Welcome, everybody. Great to see you all for the session. I see Joe up there in my window. Really great to see you. Welcome, Christophe. Welcome, Delson. They're going to be leading this session today on generosity, which is such a beautiful thing. It leads to so much happiness in the mind. And I think our whole lives are generosity. If you think of everything that comes our way, it is through the generosity of some other being. So it's a really beautiful topic. So I think the order of things today is Christophe will start with a little introduction.

And then Delson will give us a short guided meditation. Then he will share the sutta with us, and then Christophe will wrap up with some final words. If I had any of that wrong, please tell me. Christophe, if you want to go ahead. Okay, hello everybody. I'm really excited and pleased to be here. Thank you, Kirsten, David, Delson, for being here, and everyone for coming. And this is the second of three talks about generosity that we're doing leading up to the generosity challenge coming up starting next Tuesday.

Today we're going to talk about the motivations for giving. The Buddha said a lot of things about generosity. We're focusing on three things in this series. The benefits. We had that on Sunday. There's a recording of that if y'all want to see that. It's on YouTube. Today we're talking about the motivations. And on Saturday at 10 central, we're going to talk about the budgeting for it. How to budget for being generous without breaking the bank.

I want to tell a quick story about how this came about. This topic is not for the Buddha, but for me it's been basically, it marks for me the turning point about 10 years ago, when I went from a very dire, financially dire situation to much more flourishing times. I'm happy to share. So I was after high school. I went into banking in the end of the 90s, became a retail banker and went to college, became a commercial corporate and investment banker, then wanted to do my own thing because all of that transaction-driven, kind of conflict-of-interest-ridden world wasn't for me anymore. And then I went out to consult small companies on their risk management, on their market risk management, things and investments and things like that.

And that didn't work. I gained one or two clients, but that's hardly enough to make a living from it. So I did what everybody would do, right? I became a traveling musician. So I played the cello, and we were in a folk band, and we toured up and down the East Coast here in the U.S. It was some of the funnest times in my life, some of the best times in my life. I got to know so many people, so many, and actually also ran into so much generosity. We relied on people opening their homes through couchsurfing.org.

I think it was not Airbnb that would cost money, but couchsurfing, where people invite people for free and let them sleep on their couches and sometimes even glamorous bedrooms. And sometimes people wouldn't even be at home and just say, yeah, the back door's open, just make yourself at home. We're like, what? You don't know us. And those were incredible receipts of generosity that I treasure forever.

And at one point, after a couple of years, it clicked, and we were living on a thousand dollars or something on a good month on average, and racked up a lot of debt and sold stuff. My beloved bicycle and other things that were worth money, so that we could make ends meet. By one point, it just, there wasn't any way out anymore. And we had read about the Buddhists approach to what is the cause, the karmic cause for experiencing this kind of hardship, this kind of financial desert. And the clear karmic answer is you got to be generous in order to experience flourishing, worldly, basically a flourishing world in your own life.

And we started to implement that with that little income we had. We said, okay, 10% of that goes to charity. No matter what, if we can live on 1,000, we can live on 900. So that was our approach. And I kid you not, that was the point where everything turned around and started to get better. We got opportunities opened up and other lines of revenue opened up, where I could develop my financial advice practice again. And now we're here. And I'm happy to share that without generosity, you may live off old life's karma or previous karma that you've collected to experience a wonderful life. But at one point, it'll run out, and you don't know when that is.

And so you'll want to experience, if you want to continue to experience beautiful things in this life, including spiritual development, then generosity is absolutely at the heart. I know from firsthand experience. And then, of course, the Buddha teaches us as well. So this leads us to the eight motivations of giving. You can give kind of wrong or you can give right, and hence this second of three sutta talks leading to the generosity challenge next week. Little words you probably all know, Delson, but in case you're here for the first time today, Delson is awesome, and why he's awesome: he combines traditional awakening with evidence-based inner transformations. He guides people from distress toward understanding, accepting, and most importantly freedom, in the end liberation. And he's the author of several books, including A Mind Without Craving, that you hopefully have heard about, and if not, go get it. It's an awesome book, and other books too are available. I'm Christophe Enslin, and I help meditators gain peace of mind about their money. I'm a financial planner, an investment manager. That's what I do, with this attitude of meditation and peace of mind as a goal, primarily.

I'm a TWIM online meditation guide, and I'm the author of Long-Term Investing for Meditators, a book that came out about two years ago. So, you may have all received, through the WhatsApp group, this worksheet. Version. I'll put it in the chat now here too, and please print it out if you can still, and if you haven't yet, because that'll help you follow along with what Delson is going to talk about, reading the sutta and interpreting the sutta, to have greater benefit of the session. Why not make the most of today's gathering and be fully present, and have a takeaway with you that you can look up later for reference.

Okay. Thus have I heard. Delson, please take it away, and I will put the PDF into the chat. Thanks, Christophe. Thank you. So I thought we talked about this, and we figured let's start off with a small guided practice on what we call anusati, and this is known in the suttas as a way of reflecting and contemplating on one's own generosity.

I know Kirsten shared last night with me the sutta, and I thought I might just read from it so you understand what we're actually going to be doing. Give me one second here. This is from Anguttara Nikaya 6.10 with Mahanama. And I'm just going to read a little bit so you understand what we're doing.

Furthermore, a noble disciple recollects their own generosity. I am so fortunate, so very fortunate. Among the populace consumed by the stain of stinginess, I live at home free from stinginess, freely generous, open-handed, delighted in letting go, conscientious of requests, delighting in giving and sharing. When a noble disciple recollects their own generosity, their mind is not consumed by greed, hatred, or delusion.

This is called a noble disciple who lives in balance among the unbalanced populace. They have entered the stream of the Dhamma and developed the recollectedness of generosity. So that's what we will be doing. So let's all settle down and find a good sitting position that we can meditate in for the next 10-15 minutes. And let's close our eyes.

Come back to the body. Relax. Notice any tightness and tension through the body and soften it. Relax it. Just bring your attention from the top of your head and sweep it down through the body to the tips of your toes. And just relax. Put a small smile on your face, on your mouth, in your eyes, and in your heart.

Let the smile warm your body, warm your heart. Bring softness to the mind. Now, let's go back into our memory and bring up, in which we were generous, whatever form of generosity that comes up: maybe sharing a smile with a stranger, bringing laughter to a person and uplifting them, giving food to those who are hungry, offering alms to the monastics, volunteering, whatever it might be.

A time where we shared our home with friends, shared a meal with them, cooked a meal for them. A time when we gave away something to someone in need, we let go of the old, that which already served us, and offered it to someone else, so that they could use it and benefit from whatever it is that we gave to them.

Notice how that brings a natural smile to the face when you think about the times that you expressed your generosity. How it brings warmth to the heart and softness to the mind. How it brings ease to the body. And rest in that experience. Notice how this recollection of generosity brings an immediate feeling of happiness for ourselves, an expression of loving kindness for ourselves.

And let's rest in that for now. Thank you. Recollect how, as we walk the path laid out by the Buddha, how it's become easy to be generous, with our smiles, with our time, with our efforts, with our possessions, and how that feeds into our own happiness and brings us collectedness in the mind. Let's gently bring our awareness back to the body and allow this collectedness to continue as we open our eyes and prepare our minds to listen to the sutta.

So I will share my screen. This is a very short sutta, on here. I don't know why. Let me go back and see. There we go. Okay. So as I said, this is a pretty short sutta. So I will read it and then we can go through what it's saying here. This is Anguttara Nikaya 8.31. Giving. These ate gifts. So that is the entire sutta. Very short.

I find it kind of funny and humorous that the first kind of giving is having insulted the recipient. One gives a gift. I'm not sure I've ever done that, where I've insulted someone and given a gift to them, so I'm wondering what that means. Let's look at the note for what this says here. So this is the commentary: one gives a gift when someone has arrived, having seen one who has come. One instantly makes him sit down, honors him, and gives him a gift. One thinks, I will give, but does not trouble him. This explanation takes Asaja, which is the absolutive of Asidati, glossed by the commentary as Nisida Petva, having made sit down.

In the Nikayas, however, Asaja never seems to bear this sense. It means having insulted, having offended, having encroached upon. Since this type of giving occurs first in what is clearly a graded list, the usual meaning of asaja is more pertinent. So I guess we could take it in two different ways. One is where, having brought a person to our home and made them sit down, we offer a gift. But perhaps another way of looking at this is having insulted someone, or having done something that causes harm to another person. We may decide to go back to them, hold ourselves accountable, and offer something that would help them feel at ease. So this could be a gift in some ways. The second one is: one gives a gift from fear. This is an interesting one. This is almost like some kind of a power dynamic, especially in the time of ancient India, when we had kings and aristocrats and so on.

So maybe somebody is higher on the pecking order and we don't want to be on their bad side. And so, out of fear, we give them a gift. So we may offer something to a king or someone, hoping that we curry good favor with them, and they think of us in a good light rather than in a bad light.

Another one is: one gives a gift thinking he gave to me. This is an interesting one. So somebody has given to me before, so I feel like I want to return that favor by giving them a gift. One makes a gift thinking he will give to me, to be rewarded by them returning that in kind. This is very interesting. This reminds me of a time when I was in school and I had this friend who would always do different things for different people. And he would do some things for me as well. He would share his snacks, or he would do something.

And there was a kind of implicit expectation from him. So anytime I had not shared my snack, he would remind me, hey, remember I shared my snack with you, so you should share your snack with me. So the idea is that I'm doing something so that I get something in return from you. He will give to me, thinking he will get something back. One gives a gift thinking giving is good. So you may have heard of it: generosity is beneficial in many different ways. Generosity helps to uplift the mind. Generosity helps to purify the mind. It helps to bring one into a state of sila, where one is happy for oneself and wishes happiness on others.

So with that instruction, you give and say, well, if generosity is good, if giving is good, I will give. One gives a gift thinking I cook. These people do not cook. who do not cook so this is a good one i mean it shows the generosity especially you'll see this i'm sure you see this everywhere but especially when i i see it in india where neighbors will be there and you know that person is either in grieving or they've just come back from the hospital and they're just unable to cook so what does your heart tell you hey i want to help them maybe i cook something for them maybe i make a bowl of soup or i make a plate of lasagna or something you know a casserole and i give that to them because they are unable to cook so i want to offer a way of helping them in their time of need one gives a gift thinking because i have given this gift i will gain a good reputation so this is an interesting one we talked a little bit this last time on Sunday

about reputation: what one's reputation is like, in the sense that our reputation precedes us. When somebody sees one as generous, they generally flock to them, because they see this person is kind-hearted, this person wishes for that benefit and happiness of others. And we always flock to those that make us feel good, that make us feel wholesome, that make us feel uplifted.

So when I give a gift, this is the motivation, right? I will gain a good reputation. And that reputation helps to do things that I may want to do in my life. But here is the ultimate motivation. One gives a gift for the purpose of ornamenting the mind, equipping the mind. Let's look at the note. Let's see what that note says.

All three editions have chitta lankara chitta parikaratam dhanam deti. Where the translation, or the other one, would say chitta lankaram chitta parikaranti dhanam deti. So, for the purpose of ornamenting and equipping the mind with serenity and insight. That is samatha vipassana. That is TWIM, Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation. So we offer alms to the monks. We offer dhana to teachers, both lay and sangha.

We do what we can to express our generosity. And remember, it's not just about sharing resources. Needs it? Can I crack a joke and make somebody laugh? Can I bring joy into their lives? Can I bring something that will uplift them? And as you've seen in our guided practice today, when you recollect those moments of generosity, it's very easy for the mind to get collected. It's very easy for the mind to become uplifted.

It's very easy for the mind to experience pamojja. That's a wonderful way of starting your practice if you want to generate loving kindness for yourself. Think about the moments that you were generous, and it will bring an immediate smile to your face, warmth to your heart, and softness in the mind. So that is the sutta. Now notice how it is divided. In some sense, you look at the first four, and there is an almost selfish quality to them. It's almost like a mundane kind of motivation. But as you go from five to eight, it's leading towards the Dhamma. It's leading towards, you know, being more super mundane.

So that is the sutta, Anguttara Nikaya 8.31. I will now hand it over to Christophe. Thank you, Delson. Yeah, that was very wonderful. The final one, the point that this list is great, from one to eight getting better and better, is very insightful, and the last one is to find awakening and enlightenment. That kind of reminds me that you all here in this room have already been generous, generous enough that you came across teaching, and Damasuka, and David, and Delson, and of course Kirsten. So I'm one of those blessed people too, so I know in the back of my mind, hey, I've done some good things, yay, and I hope you all know that too. I would like to now go to that worksheet for y'all to kind of just repeat what we've just heard and put it into

our own handwriting, because we want to remember things. We want to learn things. I often feel like when I hear a Dhamma talk, and it has nothing to do with Delson or David or whoever gives the Dhamma talk, I feel like this all sounds really good when I hear it. And then five minutes later, if somebody asks me, like, what did you actually hear? And I'm like, hmm, what did I actually hear?

Yeah, good question. So I don't want that to happen after this session. And that's why we're working through this worksheet. So everybody, please pull this up and follow along. Let me turn off my blurring of the background so that you can see the entire sheet when I hold it up. And I will share my screen again. So let's go through this and fill it out. Fill out the blanks from one through eight.

So I'll need your high-level participation here. So, if we had one word for each of these steps in the ladder, what would you call the first one? What's the motivation of the first level? Where we heard that it's about maybe giving after insulting somebody, what would you put this as one word, if you had to, or a short phrase? Please put it in the chat so we can all experience this summary of things together.

Anybody? One word for level one. This is a memory test. Correct or wrong? Yes. That's good. Apology. Nice. Yeah. Very good. Thank you for that. So I personally like the apology thing. I noted down here contempt, because you have obligation even. Yeah, that feels like a certain type of obligation. Thanks, Susan. So I would call it contempt, because we kind of created a certain situation, and now we feel like we need to give to relieve it. But I think I will write apology in my worksheet here. So what's the next one? Level two, a tiny little bit less selfish than an apology. Level two.

What was that about? Anybody remember? What was level two about? See, I must admit right now, I don't. This is interesting. This is a good test to see how many people actually pay attention when somebody is with the sutta. Yeah, exactly. Wow, guys, I need the slide here. But I'll... there it is. Fear. It's based out of fear.

That's number two. So, yes, Helen, exactly. Fear of authority. Somebody may do bad things to us if we don't try to appease them with some gift. Very good. Thank you, Helen. You pay good attention. Now, number three, a little bit less, again, a little bit less selfish, a little bit better as a motivation. What is number three?

Anybody remember that? That's something to do. Yes, Kirsten! Reciprocity, exactly the word I have here on the slide. Because somebody has given to us, right? To return the favor, or we feel obligated to return the favor. Next level again, already a little bit better. What would be number four, the fourth motivation of giving? I'll give someone a hint: I shared my snacks with you. So, what snacks? Payment for snacks. Yes, exactly.

I would call it expectations. Yes, that's right. Expectation. So that's the next one. Expectation. Then next one. And now we're going into the good zone, into where it starts to make good karma instead of making bad karma. So, number five. Have you heard anything about what giving does to you? You may have read a sutta. To want to be good. Yes, exactly.

Because it makes good karma. Exactly. Knowing that it's good. I like that. Karma, wanting to be good, all of that is great to put in there. Wanting to be good. Now we're getting to the crunch time here. What's even better than giving because you know it's good? One step better. And I must admit right now, I lost it too. Cooking!

Yes, exactly. Cooking. I love that. Yeah. And for me, that's compassion. Because I think the cooking part is kind of maybe, and correct me if I'm wrong with that, I feel like that's an example, maybe a metaphor. But basically, somebody else is worse off than you or needs something that you have or can provide. And so you do something about it, right? He's someone suffering. Very nice. Yes.

I like that. The number seven, oh, no, I already gave it away. Clicked too much of a clicky hand here. But number seven is all about gaining recognition, gaining good reputation. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you hear that, Tommy. Very sorry. So the seventh one is recognition, is knowing that it improves your reputation. That's an interesting one, because I always thought like that would be a bad motivation to give. It's like, I give so I will be liked, or I will have a good reputation in the community. I'm actually really surprised that that is so high up. Do you have any thoughts on that? Yeah, I think it was interesting about that, but I think it's really also the idea that, you know, when we are with people, we want to usually hang out with people who are wholesome, right? So when we're generous, people know that we're wholesome, and that's the way I see it. Also, when you look at, like, even from the monastic standpoint

The entire Vinaya is really about reputation management. So it's really about the fact that, hey, we do things a certain way. And so there's a certain reputation that's built that these monastics are wholesome, that these monastics are going for refuge and going to the homeless life for the purpose of Nibbana. So they're not wasting time, all these other things.

So, you know, David says it does build a good reputation, so not so bad. And a good reputation is less about carrying favor, and that's maybe part of it for lay people, you know, from that expectation, but more about the fact that people who see someone with a good reputation will tend to flock in that direction. You think about it from the perspective of, like, you go on YouTube and you look for teachers. Sometimes you look at the comments of what is being said, and you will not be turned on by looking at that particular teacher. But you go to another teacher where, hey, word of mouth, you should listen to this person. You should listen to that person.

This person gives great retreats, whatever it might be. Or on a more mundane level, you think about it, like, I do this all the time when I'm shopping on Amazon. What do I look at first? I look at the reviews. What's the reputation of this product? What's the reputation of this service? So it is something that draws the right kind of people, who are motivated by Dhamma, to go to you.

Yeah. I like that. And there's lots of talk about that in the chat too. I love that. Awesome. This is great. Yeah. You provide an example for others. That's a wonderful one, I think. Yeah. Confidence and ease. Yeah, exactly. You don't need to worry about your reputation. Yeah, it doesn't matter. Any example. Good reputation contributes to the tone of the community. That's also a good one. Yeah, thanks guys. You guys are awesome. So now let's move to eighth level. Level eight, highest level of giving. What would be your motivation if you wanted to supercharge your giving? Nirvana. There you go. Yes, Nirvana. Awakening. Spirituality. I put down awakening. Nirvana is great, like whatever you connect with, this is, it's awesome. Yeah, Nirvana. Yeah. Okay, freedom from suffering. Yes, Kirsten. Exactly.

If you want that, then, and who doesn't, at least of those who are in this room, why not give? Why not really put that intention into any kind of giving that we do? Because we know that it detaches our mind, our habits, or it basically is practicing detachment. It's practicing renunciation, and it brings us on the path, brings us a step further on the path. But if we forget about the awakening intention, let's at least not go to the wrong intentions, the wrong motivations. And that's here another little blank here, right? Wrong motivation is the arrow, up is the lowest. And of course, the upper one, the right motivation, the upper four.

So if I can just add one thing about the eighth one, because it's worth recalling and remembering this: you rightly said, Christoph, that when you have that generosity, it's also a form of renunciation. You're letting go, and letting go results in. And remember this, this is one of the ones I love to use all the time, which is from the Upanisa Sutta: the 11 links of transcendental dependent origination, which is the generosity is a part of, in some sense, sila as the bedrock. It's its own thing, which we call dana, bhavana, and panya. So dana is the generosity, bhavana is the mental development, and panya is the wisdom. Or sila, samadhi, and panya.

Sila as the bedrock of ethics, Samadhi as meditation, and Panya as wisdom, which results in collectedness, which results in seeing things as they actually are, which results in disenchantment, dispassion, and ultimately vimutti, which is the awakening and the knowledge of that awakening. So it's kind of a kickoff to that chain of good things happening. Nice. So that is the presentation for today about the motivations of giving. For those who would like to hear a little bit about next week's generosity challenge, you're welcome to hang out in another five or ten minutes. Time that they have not allotted for this. So I'll just quickly run you through the invitation here if you wanted to join us for next week.

We're trying to relay how to give with a plan, because giving is like muscles and fitness trained in a gym. With a plan, with a coach, with a community, and a way to track, you're going to get results. You're going to get better, stronger, faster, more confident. Like that, it's with giving, with practicing to give with the right motivation to causes that we love, to causes that we do want to support. And that's why we've put together this challenge, because giving with a plan creates stability.

So you have more certainty and control, at least in the worldly sense. It creates knowledge, because you understand your choices and trade-offs. Giving with a plan creates freedom because it actually reduces financial worries by looking ahead. Just like the Vinaya and all the monastic rules, they give a good framework. Monks often say, aren't you suppressed by all these rules? And they say, no, they actually give me freedom like that. And it also can align your family, that the plan can be aligned with the family, making decisions together and growing as a family.

So that's why we've put together this five-day live program on Zoom, starting August 25th, going Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday next week, and then another session the following Monday, always at 10. And it is with Delson, your Dhamma teacher, your favorite Dhamma teacher, of Enslin, and you can hang out with us more. Isn't that cool? So step-by-step, we'll be building a giving plan that works for you. This is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing, but actually through exercises, case studies, you will learn by yourself how to build your own plan, and we guide you through that.

So you can experience the benefits that the Buddha taught, and without being worried or confused about whatever you're putting together. So the first day will be all about the clarity on the missions that light you up, but also we'll practice this highest level of motivation of this, um, of giving, like how to put that into the plan. On day two we'll figure out what you will actually give, whether it's a certain dollar amount or a certain percentage of income, or whether it is donating blood or donating things or cooking for people or volunteering. Any of that, we'll talk on day two. Day three will be all about choosing the right tax vehicle, whether that's knowing about the new deduction rules that came into being in 2026 or other vehicles like a donor-advised fund or qualified charitable distributions, things like that.

Talk about what would be right for your situation. That's mostly US-focused, because I know the US system of tax-wise giving. And day four is all about how to involve your family in this and build a charitable legacy, good habits of giving together. And then on day five, kind of the bonus day, the Monday after, we'll talk about investing in a way that supports your giving, that grows your giving over time without you doing any more work.

So there's two levels of participation. The first one is the $97 general admission, which includes all the course materials that we've handed out, like worksheets like you've had before. It's going to be very interactive. It's going to be all five live 60-minute main sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and on Monday. And you'll have 24-hour recording access to each of these main sessions in case you can't make it live.

Or you participate at the full immersion level for $297, where you get everything from the general admission, plus a live 30-minute practice lab after each main session. So that's also, again, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Monday, where we'll go into more details. We'll walk you through exercises, maybe do a meditation together, and answer any questions that you have.

And plus, it's not just available for 24 hours as a recording, but a whole year of replay access. So we'd love for you to come join us, hang out with us next week and the following Monday. And you can go to this wonderful website, and let me copy and paste that into the chat so you can easily click it, or you can scan this QR code if you like, and join us there. Find all information on this challenge, what we're doing and why it's called a challenge. First of all, so yeah, that's it for today. We have Saturday, another one of these, the third of these three talks about dana, about giving. Interestingly, the Buddha talked about giving so much, that is such an important element of the practice, but there's no actual budgeting for it, even though he taught us budgeting in Digha Nikaya 31.

So we'll look at that part in the Digha 31 that talks about how to split up your income, whichever costs you have, and then walk through our thoughts of where dana fits in there. So I'm super excited about having this talk on Saturday, again at 10 p.m., with the same link that we use for the Sunday class. And why are we doing it on Saturday and not Sunday? It's because we would like to have the current cohort of retreatants also be part of that talk, and Saturday is the last full day, so they can participate in this wonderful talk as well.

That is it from my side. Delson, would you like to add anything? I don't know. How are we for time, Kirsten? I guess usually it's... You're on mute. Sorry. At 11, we usually open it up for discussion. We usually go over a few minutes for that, so it depends on what you would like to do. Yeah, I would like to open it up for questions, comments, whatever anybody would like to add.

All right. Bye, Nat. See you Tuesday. Bye, Nat. Thanks for being here. Yeah, so just type it in the chat or raise your hand if you have any questions. Questions, comments, complaints? Hopefully no complaints. Thank you, Alex. Thank you, Alex. Yeah, go ahead. I had a comment, but I didn't know how. It's not a very cheerful comment, but at the same time, maybe it is important in relation to generosity.

One time, I know Delson said, he said this in a talk: you guys aren't going to like hearing this, but meditation is about learning how to die. And I was thinking about how generosity is the same thing. You know, when we die, we're letting go of everything. Ultimately, this body. We just had a family member who died at 3 a.m. this morning. I was thinking about her. She's young.

And just this incredible, whatever a person has to do within their own mind. And this generosity, I think, walks this path for us to help us prepare. Because at that moment, we really do have to let go if we don't want to keep, and you can add to this, Delson, if we don't want to keep pulling ourselves back. You know, because when we die, we want to just learn how to let go completely. So just my thoughts, my comment is, one thing I notice about generosity is it makes you feel so good. When you're generous, it's a feel-good thing, even though it's a sad moment that's happening and you're trying to help out. It still is uplifting, and that helps you go on to be able to give more and more.

I don't know. It seems like being generous, the more generous you are, it doesn't seem to affect the amount of money that you get, for some reason. It's kind of weird. I've noticed that, you know, the last three or four years. But I don't want to tell people to give away all their money or anything like that. I just happen to notice that you can give quite a bit and still be okay.

And still have plenty for yourself to be able to eat well and live in a decent place and all that. Anyway, I just want to add that about the feel-good. I mean, it just makes you, because it seems like we're all connected. When you're helping someone else feel better, it makes you feel better. Yeah. Kind of like what you do and others, you know, kind of thing, I guess. What were you going to say? I'm sorry. It's kind of like sharing merit, right? Just by sharing merit doesn't mean that your merit is depleted.

So by sharing with generosity, it doesn't mean that you're depleted. It actually makes you feel good, and somehow that seems to come back to you in many-fold ways. So, yeah, but going back to what Kirsten was saying, you know, about generosity in terms of letting go, I think it does prepare the mind to let go of death. You know, also the fact that when you let go in that way, you go back to all the good things that you've done in your life, and generosity is part of that, and it makes you uplifted, and it will help you to let go even further, if not take you to a heavenly realm. Nobody here wants heaven. Everybody wants to get out of this place. So it will help in that way. Thank you, Delson.

I was wondering, Delson, so you guided the meditation earlier and it was very uplifting. I wonder whether this kind of generosity recollection could be used for the jhana practice, for TWIM. We're often taught to think of kittens and puppies. The generosity recollection could be, yeah, I imagine, an alternative to that. What do you think about that? Absolutely. I mean, this is why I was also mentioning in the meditation that, you know, it's not just generosity but sila also. So the recollection of one's sila, or virtue, it uplifts the mind, and it's a great way to bring happiness to the heart, and it's a great way of wishing for happiness, which is an extension of loving kindness. So absolutely, it's a great opportunity, it's a great initiator or igniter of that feeling of happiness and that feeling of loving kindness. So here's another thing, you know: if kittens and babies don't make it for you, your generosity, your virtue, can, I think that's just to add to that, says that if you recollect all those things

it can lead to, I'm not sure if it's like complete liberation, but almost, or all the way. You know, so many of these contemplations can do the whole thing for you if you just go into them deeply. Yeah. May suffering ones be suffering free, and the fear-struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief, and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. Okay. Thank you, everyone. I guess we'll see you guys on Saturday. Thank you. Thank you, Kirsten, for having us. Thank you, Delson. Thank you. For generously teaching us the Dhamma. Thank you, everybody, for coming and joining in this wonderful community. Thank you.