Training ourselves in the eightfold path of recollection, in
every thought the heart is filled with joy; firm fixed in holy
contemplation, by meditation still we add to wisdom, able to see aright
the cause of birth and death; having beheld aright the cause of these,
then follows in due order perfect deliverance. The charitable man
discarding earthly wealth, nobly excludes the power of covetous desire;
loving and compassionate now, he gives with reverence and banishes all
hatred, envy, anger. So plainly may we see the fruit of charity, putting
away all covetous and unbelieving ways, the bands of sorrow all
destroyed: this is the fruit of kindly charity. Know then! the
charitable man has found the cause of final rescue; even as the man who
plants the sapling thereby secures the shade, the flowers, the fruit of
the tree full grown; the result of charity is even so, its reward is joy
and the great Nirvana. The charity which un-stores wealth leads to
returns of well-stored fruit. Giving away our food we get more strength,
giving away our clothes we get more beauty, founding religious
rest-places we reap the perfect fruit of the best charity. There is a
way of giving, seeking pleasure by it; there is a way of giving,
coveting to get more; some also give away to get a name for charity,
others to get the happiness of heaven, others to avoid the pain of being
poor hereafter, but yours, O friend! is a charity without such thoughts:
the highest and the best degree of charity, without self-interest or
thought of getting more.
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