The six paramitas · Verse 25 of 37
Verse 25: Generosity
Verse 25 of The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas, the fourteenth-century Tibetan poem by Gyalse Tokme Zangpo (1295–1369). It belongs to the section on six paramitas.
When even one's body must be given up when aspiring for enlightenment, what need is there to mention material things? Therefore, practice generosity without hope for rewards or karmic results. This is the way of a bodhisattva.
The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to give out of generosity,
With no hopes of karmic recompense or expectation of reward.
For if those who seek awakening must give even their own bodies,
What need is there to mention mere outer objects and possessions?
If those who want to be awake have to give even their bodies,
What need is there to talk about things that you simply own.
Be generous, not looking
For any return or result — this is the practice of a bodhisattva.
A facilitator's reading across the commentaries
The shared definition is negative — generosity is the absence of the return-loop. GR's tax-paying paramita is the most startling lay application in the whole compendium; AB's mosquito test the most honest self-check.
GR Garchen Rinpoche · HHDL H.H. the Dalai Lama · AB Dr. Alexander Berzin · KTGR Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche · KS Khenpo Sodargye · TC Ven. Thubten Chodron · KM Ken McLeod
What the teachers say
Garchen Rinpoche Drikung Kagyu
Generosity is what lightens the burden of "I": giving of goods, of Dharma (teaching, mantra recitation for others when one has no money), and of life (ransoming animals from slaughter). Strikingly extended to civic life: pay taxes, utility bills, and fares gladly — roads and electricity benefit everyone — curing the stinginess that leads to hell. Work itself becomes generosity of the body: serve your employer as a parent.
Full commentary: 37practices.info (37practices.info serves this as one long page; find the verse by number.)
H.H. the Dalai Lama Gelug
No commentary on the 1974 source for this verse (root verse only).
Full commentary: 37practices.info (37practices.info serves this as one long page; find the verse by number.)
Dr. Alexander Berzin Gelug
Generosity is fundamentally a state of mind — the willingness to give — so even the penniless practice it; but with actual resources, visualized giving isn't enough. Free of all expectation: no payback, no gratitude, not even the karmic ripening. "We give simply because somebody needs something." Humbling self-test: can you let a mosquito have a meal of your blood?
Full commentary: studybuddhism.com
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche Karma Kagyu
If bodhisattvas give even bodies — as the Buddha did for the starving tigress — possessions need no mention. Must flow from bodhicitta, not desire to bank merit; includes material giving and the gift of Dharma; removes the root obstacle of clinging.
Full commentary: dharmaebooks.org (Free ebook, trans. Suzanne Schefczyk.)
Khenpo Sodargye Nyingma, Larung Gar
A perfection is "transcendent" when it destroys its counterpart (miserliness), is held by wisdom free of the three concepts, fulfills beings' aspirations, and matures their potential. Three types: material giving (intention matters, not size), protection from fear (saving lives), and Dharma. "The motivation behind the act of giving makes all the difference." Stories: Patrul Rinpoche buying thousands of animals from slaughter; Sodargye's own annual mass animal-release campaigns.
Full commentary: khenposodargye.org (Free ebook PDF.)
Ven. Thubten Chodron Sravasti Abbey, Gelug
Winter Retreat vv25–28 talk.
Full commentary: thubtenchodron.org
Ken McLeod Shambhala / independent
Talk 10; his visible Tricycle line: "It is challenging to let go of our attachment to results." Tricycle v25
Full commentary: unfetteredmind.org (Tricycle's per-verse written commentary is behind a subscriber paywall.)
Further reading: Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, The Heart of Compassion (Shambhala). A purchased book — no text is reproduced here.