พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าทานเป็นพื้นฐานของชีวิตที่ต้องเอื้อเฟื้อเกื้อกูล เมื่อให้ทานใจจะเบิกบานหลุดพ้นจากตัณหาที่รัดตรึงใจ ทำให้ใจขยายกว้าง ซึ่งเป็นบันไดขั้นแรกที่นำไปสู่การสร้างบารมีข้ออื่นๆ ตามมาเป็นลำดับThe teacher explains that giving is the foundation of a life of generosity — when we give, the heart opens and is freed from the clinging that binds it, expanding the path for merit. This is the first rung of a ladder that leads naturally to the other perfections.
A lay follower asked why giving that surely bears fruit is placed as the first of the Ten Right Views.
Giving Is the Foundation of a Generous Life
The teacher explained that giving is the first of the Ten Perfections because it is the foundation of a life built on generosity and mutual support. Giving that is truly given must surely bear fruit. What we give, our late teacher taught, should be given with care and refinement — what we give becomes lodged within , the place where merit is stored. The scriptures record that giving offered even to an animal bears fruit for 100 lifetimes — never poor, never lacking, across all 100 lives. Giving offered to a person without , or to a virtuous human being, bears a thousand times greater fruit still.
Giving Opens the Heart and Frees It from What Binds It
When we give, the merit of giving makes the giver's heart bloom open, freed from the dark quality (kanha-) that binds and stains it. When the heart is no longer bound, it can expand — and as the heart expands, so does the path of merit. A narrow heart makes for a narrow path of merit; a wide-open heart makes for a wide path of merit.
The perfection of giving fails to arise only when we lack the five spiritual faculties — when we lack self-mastery, lack understanding, and so lack faith. But when we are able to give, to sacrifice, to be generous and supportive of others, the heart blooms and expands, at ease, because the dark quality (kanha-dhamma) that once bound it has dissolved — and the heart is set free.
From Giving, Virtue Follows, and All the Rest in Turn
Generosity and empathy for others give rise to the wish that everyone be safe. Virtue () itself arises from this very wish for others' safety. Once virtue is established, , wisdom, effort, truthfulness, resolve, , and equanimity follow in turn, each building on the last. Master the first step, and the second becomes possible; master the second, and the third, fourth, and fifth follow. It is like climbing a staircase — once you can place your foot on the first step, you can step onto the second, and from there the third, each step opening the way to the next.