Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo, Nina and friends,

thanks so much for the discussion. I'm not sure if the Pali Canon
provides any of the following information.

In the Mahayana, giving is considered an unilateral event. Only when
there is a willing acceptor of your gift, i.e. when it becomes
bilateral, will there be merits accrued. In other words, practising
dana or generosity does make a person kinder, but it doesn't mean
there will definitely be merits. To make my point, you can't throw
gold on the streets everyday and expect merits. In Buddhism, we say
Dhamma is the best of gifts, but you can't print libraries of
Tipitaka and expect merits in that way. There is always a tendency
for people to forget that while Buddhism is a religion of great
compassion, it is one of great wisdom too.


metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Nina van Gorkom wrote:

Daana is not only giving material things. There are spiritual ways of
giving. When you appreciate someone else's kusala you can express
this in words, such as anumodana or saadhu. Then you have kusala
citta, and you respond with muditaa to others' kusala. There is
generosity coming from the heart. Also, when you have done a generous
deed you can give others, dead or alive, an opportunity to have
kusala citta as well. This is also a way of daana. In the
Kuddhakapatha we read in <Without the Walls> about a king who at
first omitted to extend merit, and then his relatives who were ghosts
wailed. Later on he extended merit. The expression the extension of
merit is confusing, but we should take it as Bhante explained. It is
a way of sharing.

> It has been explained to me that the practice transfers one's own
merit to a person, alive or dead, of one's choosing.