Two Reasons to Give

Under the warm glow of the lecture hall lights, with the subtle scent of incense in the air, hundreds of devotees sat in silent attention. The teacher’s voice, gentle yet firm, resonated in the stillness.

“When we give while attached to appearances, meaning the motivation is not genuine, what might those motivations be?” the teacher asked, his eyes scanning the room.

An elderly devotee raised their hand. “Venerable Sir, it is giving because we find the recipient attractive.”

“Right. What else?”

“Giving because the person flatters us.”

“Exactly. When someone is already wealthy, we flatter them to gain money. What else?”

A younger devotee spoke up. “Giving because the person is a close relative.”

“Yes. Giving to seek blessings. Giving to be praised as generous. Giving to display power, to feel superior to others. Giving to buy influence and draw people into our circle.” The teacher listed them, his voice growing somber. “Motivations like these, the Buddha called unwholesome. The action may seem virtuous, but the mind is not, so it is said to be attached to appearances.”

The hall fell quiet. Everyone was inwardly questioning their own heart.

“So then,” the teacher continued, “what is the reason to give? We must give, we cannot choose not to. Why?”

A soft female voice replied, “Venerable Sir, because of compassion.”

“Compassion. What else?” The teacher nodded. “There are two reasons. These two will be called being without attachment to appearances.”

He paused for a moment, his gaze distant as if recalling something.

“The first reason is to help someone through a difficulty. For example, a person is poor, in need, they need an education, they are sick and facing hardship, unable to overcome it alone. We help them to overcome that difficulty in their life, in their practice, in their studies, in their training. That is the first reason, not because of any of those other things.”

He turned to a devotee in the front row. “What do you think? You meet a beggar on the street, physically intact but ragged and hungry. You give them a bowl of rice, a glass of water. Why?”

The devotee answered immediately, “Venerable Sir, because I see they need help. They are suffering.”

“Exactly. Not because you want praise, not to show off, not to seek blessings. Only because you feel for them in a moment when they cannot help themselves. That is giving without attachment to appearances. And the second one is the important motivation of a Bodhisattva.”

He spoke more slowly, emphasizing each word. “Giving to create positive conditions for future guidance.”

A silence followed. Then the teacher explained: “If the motivation were only the first kind, when we meet an ordinary person facing no difficulty, we would never give anything at all, because they are still well-fed and well-dressed, with nothing that needs resolving. But a Bodhisattva sometimes, even when a person is still in normal circumstances, gives anyway. That is because of the second reason: to create positive conditions for future guidance.”

He offered an example: “We suddenly have some fruit, so we bring it as a gift. A box of good pastries, a lovely present – we still bring it to give. The person is not in a desperate situation, yet we still give it. That is for the second reason.”

A devotee asked, “Venerable Sir, but if someone is richer than me and I still give away everything I have, what is the reason for that?”

The teacher smiled gently. “That is bribery. How can that be the first reason? That situation happens constantly throughout human life, and perhaps will never end in this world. This is what we must struggle with – the battle between good and evil.”

The hall was quiet again. Each person was looking inward, questioning their own motivation for giving.

The teacher concluded: “So, giving without attachment to appearances means giving without a sense of being the giver, giving without erroneous motivation, yet it also cannot be without reason. There must be a reason, and that reason must be directed correctly.”

The Meaning of the Story

Giving is a noble moral act, but its true value lies in the inner motivation. There are two wholesome reasons for giving without attachment: first, to help others when they face a difficulty they cannot overcome, arising from a heart of genuine compassion; second, to create positive conditions with sentient beings so there is an opportunity to guide and teach them in the future. When giving is motivated by these two reasons, the action becomes truly perfect, and morality is complete from the deed to the inner mind.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Venerable Thích Chân Quang