Dana Paramita: Simple Generosities

Offer flowers on a distant mountain to all beings —Dogen Zenji

In this dharma talk we explore the beautiful practice of giving, generosity, on the three levels of experience, Inner, Outer and Secret.

The invitation here is to open to the inherent generosity of life itself and explore ways we can cultivate and infuse generosity in our lives and practice.

The talk opens with the poem below:

simple generosities 

today I am appreciating

the simple generosities

the way things–in the act of being

Just as they are

make abundant

offerings

like how

compacta’s crimson

leaves carry

such a robust red

that i myself begin to blush

–a warmth

that fills me from the inside out

and what of sidewalks

even the seemingly broken ones

–who give 

unwavering support for every 

one of my foot falls

each step

–a secret meeting

of endless generosity

and neighbors with their kind hearts

create halloween dioramas on their porches

sacred altars

to the trickster, the child, the spooky

the already dead

jack-o-lanterns carved

to resemble each one of our 

faces

oh, and the locust

in their perfect row

along this street of bricks

how they wave their 

honey golden

limbs

in praise

of sun and wind

and every passerby

oh the simple generosities

–of chair and cup

of spoon and soil

of red-tailed squirrel and house wren

of pumpkin and marigold

–their bright orange faces

  that rise up and open to the world

today is the day

where i will receive

your bounty

i will see each of you

for the blessing 

that you are

and perhaps

in doing so

i will honor the generosity

of my own life

not for the acts done nor

the gifts given

but for the gift

that is my life

Just as I am