"The art of giving"

I came across this on a web site tonight and thought it was interesting as it is a time for giving. For what reason do you give?

Personally, I enjoy giving more than receiving, as I am sure many of us do. However, there was one exception this year - on the Sunday before my birthday this year, Manny, my husband, organised a birthday cake for me (as he wasn't going to be at home on my actual birthday) and at lunchtime he and my children all gave me a present. This is in fact quite unusual for my husband as his family do not usually celebrate Birthdays - Christmas is their big thing. I was so touched by the bringing in of the lit cake and the thought behind him organising it that tears started to well up in my eyes. I didn't care so much about the presents it was the thought and intention behind his actions that were the most important.

Giving.

"The benefits of giving are seen in its karmic effects. Giving leads to being reborn in happy states and material wealth. Alternatively, lack of giving leads to unhappy states and poverty. The early scriptures state that giving to virtuous people is more meritorious than giving to non-virtuous people: 'By giving a gift to the immoral ordinary person, the offering may be expected to repay a hundredfold. By giving a gift to a virtuous ordinary person, the offering may be expected to repay a hundred thousandfold' (The Dakkhinavibhanga Sutta). The Buddha goes on to say: 'in no way does a gift to a person individually ever have greater fruit than an offering made to the Sangha'.

A key factor in giving is motivation. Unfortunately, giving can often have a degree of selfishness within it. Sometimes, when we give, hidden somewhere within us is the notion that we will benefit from it in some way. This could be the thought of the good merit that we will earn or we will be liked or appreciated. The purest giving, however, has no such motivation behind it, only the thought of how the recipient will benefit.

The exquisite paradox in Buddhism is that the more we give - and the more we give without seeking something in return - the more wealthy (in the broadest sense of the word) we will become. By giving we destroy those acquisitive impulses that ultimately lead to further suffering.