(Sivali) Karma and Great Wealth

Gold plated amulets of Ven. Sivali, a monk in the Buddha's time renowned for his amazing good fortune (dhammapath.blogspot.com)

Ven. Sivali was praised by the Buddha as the most miraculous monk for manifesting fortune. Sivali is recollected by Thai Buddhists as a great fortune-fetching figure with a mantra uttered to secure wealth:

"Sivali ja Mahathero Devatanarapuchito Soraho Pajjayatimhi Sivali ja Mahathero Yakkhadeva Puchito Soraho Pajjayatimhi Ahang Wanthami Tang Sathatassatherassa Aetang Khunang Sotthilabhang Bhavantumae."

Eating modestly is a type of eating that is very good, both in terms of the world and of the Dharma. Take Ven. Sivali, who ate modestly, as an example. How did he eat modestly? All that most of us know about Ven. Sivali is that he was wealthy in terms of the donations he received. But where did that wealth come from?

It came from eating modestly. Eating modestly is the source that gives rise to wealth. What Sivali did (in a previous birth) was this: Whenever he received cloth, if he had not yet given a gift of cloth, he would not wear what he had received. When he received food in his bowl, he would not eat it until he had given some of it as a gift to someone else. No matter which of the four requisites he received — food, clothing, shelter, or medicine, no matter how much or how little — once it was in his possession, he would not use it until he had shared some of it with those around him.

When he received a lot, he would make a large gift to benefit many people. When he received just a little, he would still try to benefit others. This gave rise to all sorts of good things: His friends loved him, his community loved him, and they were kind to him. This is why being generous is said to tie the knot of friendship and to wipe out your enemies.

When he passed away from that lifetime and was reborn in his last lifetime, he gained all kinds of wealth and never went hungry. Even when he went to live in places where food should have been scarce, he never suffered from scarcity, never had to do without... Source

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Dana: The Practice of Giving, the Way to Riches

The story of Sivali in the Dhammapada Commentary is an example of the great merit which even a small gift can yield when presented to the Sangha led by the Buddha. At the time of Vipassi Buddha, the citizens of a country were competing with their king to see who could make the greatest offering to the Buddha and Sangha.

The citizens had obtained everything for their offering except fresh honey. And they sent out messengers, each with plenty of money, to buy the missing ingredient. One of these messengers met a villager who happened to be bringing a newly harvested honeycomb into the city for sale. The messenger was only able to buy it from the peasant when he had offered his entire allowance of a thousand pieces of money, which was far more than a single honeycomb was worth.

The villager said: "Are you crazy?... This honey isn't worth a penny but you offer me a thousand pieces of money for it? What is the explanation for this?" The messenger told him that the honey was worth so much to him because it was the final item on the menu for the citizens' offering to Vipassi Buddha. The peasant spontaneously replied, "If that is the case, I will not sell it to you. If I may receive the merit of the offering, I will give it to you!" The citizens were impressed with the conviction (saddha) of this man who so readily gave up a windfall and enthusiastically agreed that he should receive the merit of the offering.

Because of this simple gift at the time of Vipassi Buddha (aeons ago), that villager was reborn numerous times in celestial planes and then became the prince who inherited the throne of Benares. In his final lifetime, he became the Great Elder Sivali and attained full enlightenment (arahantship) as a disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha.

But even after that, his gift of the honeycomb continued to bear fruit. To honor the one who had made the sweet gift aeons before, the devas provided lodging and food for the Buddha and many monks, including Sivali, when for several days they had been walking along a deserted road.

The practice of giving is also beneficial when directed to someone who is not spiritually advanced. If the donor's intention is good, then even though the receiver is immoral, the donor will earn merit. Furthermore, by the act of giving one will strengthen within oneself one's own disposition to renunciation. A gift mentally offered to the noble (arya or accomplished, i.e., enlightened) Sangha but physically presented to a monastic who is morally corrupt will still bear great fruit. To be sure, we should not pretend that a bad person is good, but we must be most careful of our own attitude while giving, as our attitude is the factor over which we have most control.

The Objects Given
The third factor involved in giving is the gift itself, which can be either material or immaterial. Dhamma-dana, the gift of the Noble Teachings, is said by the Buddha to excel all other gifts (Dhammapada, Verse 354). Those who expound the Teachings — monastics who preach sermons or recite from the Tipitaka, teachers of meditation — frequently share the Truth, thus practicing the highest kind of generosity.

Those of us who are not qualified to teach the Dharma can give the gift of the Dharma in other ways. We can donate Dharma books or pay for the translation or publication of a rare or new manuscript propagating the Buddha-word. We can discuss the Dharma informally and encourage others to keep precepts or to take up meditation.

We might write an explanation of some aspect of the Dharma for the benefit of others. Giving cash or labor to a meditation center or helping support a meditation teacher can also be considered the gift of the Dharma, as the purpose of the center and the teacher is the transmission of the Buddha's Teaching.

The most common type of gift is material. A material object need not have a high monetary value for it to bring great results, as the story of Sivali and the honeycomb illustrates.

If a poor person gives a monastic the cup of rice that was to be his or her only food for the day, the person is making a great donation which may bear abundant fruit. Conversely, if a prosperous merchant, knowing in advance that the monastic was coming for alms, were to give the same small portion of rice, that merchant would reap meager fruits. We should try to give things whose quality is at least as good as those we use ourselves, like the people of Burma, who buy the best fruits on the market as gifts for the monastery although these fruits are much too expensive for them to consume themselves.

Gifts to the Sangha may consist of food, robes, medicine, or shelter (monasteries themselves), each of which has a wide range. The limits are set by the rules of the Vinaya to keep the Sangha pure and strong. Lay Buddhists who understand the monastic rules can earn vast merit by donating the proper things at the proper time to the Order of monks and nuns and to other good or needy people.

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