Buddhism: Beautify the Mind

Buddhism Get the latest headlines from the Buddhism GuideSite. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Curious about the benefits of meditation? In just a few minutes daily, this course will teach you how to relax and relieve stress. Even with a full schedule, you will want to make time for this! From our sponsors

Beautify the Mind Oct 23rd 2013, 16:17 I've been thinking more about the practice of giving alms (or doing other commendable stuff) to receive merit. Teachings about merit are found in all schools of Buddhism, I believe. And, of course, alms giving is closely linked to dana paramita, the perfection of giving. The Anguttara Nikaya, sutra 4:236, lists one skillful and several unskillful motivations for giving, and among the unskillful reasons is giving in hopes of receiving a future reward. Others are giving just because it's socially correct, or to gain a good reputation. I understand that another sutra in the Anguttara Nikaya (my source uses an old reference system that doesn't correlate to the one I know, so I can't say for sure which sutra)  says that that alms should be given without any expectations. So the alms-for-merit thing still seems off to me, if people are being taught that giving alms will brig future good fortune. The one skillful motivation is giving to beautify the mind, wiping away defilements and attachments.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions