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FOUR KINDS OF LAYMAN HAPPINESS

In offering alms to anybody, it should be suitable to the receiver. The alms we offer should be beneficial to the recipients, and make them happy.
The Buddha’s teaching about house-life happiness or deserved bliss of a layman is classified into 4 types: -
1. Bliss of ownership, happiness from having money. It is a source of pride to earn money and assets morally by hard work and industry. Where are our assets from? Part of them is from the good deeds of our past life which offer us abundant assets. They also give us a chance to increase our assets during the present life.
2. Bliss of enjoyment, happiness from spending money and assets. It is a source of pride to be able to earn our living morally, spend our money fruitfully, and treat those who deserve it.
If we all have enough assets or money, we will be able to spend it on doing merit or doing alms offering without a deplorable mind. This makes us happy since we can spend our money affordably without having any troubles.
3. Bliss of debtlessness. It is a source of pride to be free being in debt. We know that we will live happily when we are not in debt. We should be able to spend our money wisely, so we will not be in debt, and do not have to be worried that we will be asked for payment from somebody. So, we will live happily when we are not in debt.
The monks have to practice the same. They should know how to spend the money they get from donations wisely and not to be in debt. Some monks are in debt, mostly from buying things for temple construction on credit, for example, buying wood, cement, iron, sand and other construction materials. When the monk cannot pay, he will be unhappy when the bill comes. Therefore, if any monk wants to build some facilities at the Wat on credit, he will be unhappy since he is in debt. This is the same for lay people.
Parents should not spoil their children by encouraging them to go and play with whatever they want. They sometimes spoil their children by buying so many toys and too much clothing and other things for them. The parents should teach their children to be economical, to know what life is and try not to be extravagant; otherwise, they will cause a lot of troubles to the parents.
4. Bliss of blamelessness. It is a source of pride to behave in morality. No one can blame us physically, verbally and spiritually.
Doing things without physical fault.   This means to do things that do not cause trouble or harm to other people or animals. Doing things without physical fault in terms of precepts or rules of morality in Buddhism is to abstain from taking intoxicants causing heedlessness. If we work and lead a moral life we will be safe and happy.
Doing things without verbal fault.   This means: To avoid lying, not to tell a lie for the sake of our advantage. This means do not use deceptive words. Do not mislead others to do something wrong. Be honest to everyone, particularly in the family and among friends.
To avoid malicious speech, unite discordance, encourage unity and utter speech that makes harmony. We should avoid speaking to try to brake the unity of the group by our kind words. We should not be mean to our parents, our grandparents and the aged.
To avoid harsh language and speak with gentle, loving, courteous, dear and agreeable words. We should use nice and kind words to others. We should avoid being too talkative. We should speak only when it is necessary.
To avoid frivolous talk; to speak at the right time, in accordance with facts, what is useful, moderate and full of sense. Unkind or mean words never want to be heard by anyone. We ourselves would try to avoid using such unpleasant words to others.
In a family situation, we should be friendly to every member in the home. We should talk about and discuss about how to do merit, what we should do in alms giving, how to observe religious precepts, how to do meditation and concentrate our mind and how to have presence of mind. All these discussion will lead us to be pleasant and happy.
Doing things without mental faults. This means that we treat people fairly. We are kind to everybody and ail the animals as well. We do not envy people who are in a better position or who can earn more money than we can. Instead, we will work harder to raise ourselves up to have a peaceful mind. We will try to build up a tolerant mind with gentleness and graciousness which will bring us happiness.
In summary, we should not have physical, verbal and mental demerits. We do not persecute other people as well as all animals. We should be nice and use kind words towards others. This will certainly make us peaceful and happy.

LEVELS OF ALMS-GIVING

In Buddhism, alms giving are divided into 3 levels according to how the alms are treated: -
1. Dhasa dhana: slavish alms. This is an alms giving that use old things as an alms object. For example, using old clothes which we do not want to use anymore and want to give away to the poor. As for food, this will be the same, we want to offer the left-over food that we cannot eat and want to give away to other people who are lower than us, to give as an alms to the monk. This is called a Dhasa dhana or a “slavish alms”, which is like a rich man giving away used things to his slave, to the poor or to his subordinates. This is considered low-grade alms.
People or whoever receives this old or used objects as alms should take them for granted that we were not nice in alms giving in our past lives. This is the reason why we do not get nice things in our present lives.
During a food-ticket activity, some monks got their tickets for cheap things like a spoon and folk, or a folded knife, for example, while some other monks and novices got a ticket for expensive things like a Buddha's image, a watch or some nice lamps. This can be explained in that they must have done something nice in their past lives.
2. Sahaya dhana: friendly alms. This means to treat others equal to ourselves or as our friends. In this case, we will offer or share things to others with what we have in the manner that we do to ourselves. This kind of alms is better than the first type. We will receive more merit than the first one.
3. Samee dhana: a husband-like alms. In former times, a housewife left her husband take the food first, and she took it after her husband. But people do not still practise this anymore. The way of offering alms to the monk in this case can be compared to the manner the wife does in offering food to her husband first and then she takes it afterwards.
The alms giving will practise the same, i.e.; we will share the food and some other things to be an alms first. Then we will take the rest of it. This is the best manner of alms giving that we should do. It is considered to be a very fruitful merit.

MERITS FROM ALMS-GIVING

There are numerous kinds of merit from alms giving that our Lord Buddha explained, some of which will be presented here. We can select what is the best. Whoever shares and does alms giving of rice or any stable food, he will be happy and healthy all through his life.
It will be the same to those who offering clothing. In their new lives, they will not have problems concerning lack of clothing and will have nice and beautiful skin too.
Merits from offering light for alms, for example, candles, torch light, electricity, incense sticks, and so on, will help us to have beautiful and bright eyes; moreover, we may not need glasses at all in our next lives.
It is said that, “Whoever offers vehicles, he offers happiness.” Whoever offers vehicles and transport facilities to other people, they will be comfortable in travelling whenever they want to go somewhere. This kind of merit starts from the offering of a pair of shoes to the monk, to his teachers, as well as to his parents.
The donor will be rewarded with an ox-cart to ride on and can be shared with other people. The reward of merit will be more and more and better as the donor keeps on doing merit in his following lives. For example, the reward can be things of higher technology like a motor car or an aeroplane.
During Lord Buddha’s time, there was no aeroplane yet.   He explained that the merit from offering vehicle facilities would give the result when the donor entering priesthood or asceticism when he practices meditation, he might attain a super-natural power in which he can go anywhere with his Jhana (a state of serene contemplation attained by meditation). In other words, he can simply fly like a bird with his super-normal power if he wants.
We can make a summary that “Whoever offers happiness to other people, he will be reciprocated with happiness”. This means that we will receive whatever we do and offer to others. We as Buddhists believe that we will be reborn under the cycle of rebirth, so we all should do merit for a better and more perfect life in the future.
Whoever offers a Buddha’s image for alms giving, in his life, in the following lives, he or she will be as beautiful as the image of Lord Buddha.
Now, if we do alms offering with the Buddhist Canon, religious books, including textbooks and learning materials for school kids, we will be intelligent like Phra Sareeputra, one of the most distinguished disciples of Lord Buddha.
In my experience, I met somebody who is totally illiterate but very good in collecting money. He was asked to donate a 10 bath (about 40 U.S. cents) for poor students to buy books, rulers and pencils for their studies. This man refused to donate his money in that case, and he has never done such a contribution at all. This man will be seen to be illiterate in his next lives, and forever.
Those who have beautiful arms and beautiful fingers, they willingly showed the direction to a place when they were asked from other people who did not know the place.
Whoever wants to have nice and beautiful skin, he or she ought to offer soap, skin lotion, and cleansing facilities for alms-giving.
If we donate money and materials for construction facilities in the Wat as well as for the public, in our next lives we will have big and beautiful houses with facilities.
Whoever contributes by building bathrooms and toilets for the Wat, and for the public, as well as donates medicine for the sick, and contributes by building public hospitals, he will be healthy and have a happy life.
In the Buddha’s time, one of the Buddha’s disciples named Phra Pakula who was healthy and never got ill even once in his life, Lord Buddha said that Phra Pakula used to donate toilet facilities for the public, built hospitals and donated medical equipment and facilities to the public in his former lives.
If anybody wants to have beautiful hair, he or she ought to donate money earned from selling his or her long hair for alms. In the next life that person will get beautiful hair. In the Buddha’s time, a woman had no money for doing alms. She sold her hair and spent the money for alms. She soles her hair and spent the money for alms. She wished to have beautiful hair in her next life, and she got it.
If we want to have beautiful and strong teeth, we should offer toothpicks, toothbrushes and toothpaste as the alms.
Whoever wants to have beautiful eyes should donate his or her eyes to hospitals.
Lord Buddha, in one of his former lives, while being a Bhodhisatta (a Buddha to be), donated his eyes for alms. This is why, when he was Prince Sidhatta, he owned such bright, beautiful and perfect eye.
Now, regarding donating blood, kidney or any other parts of one’s body organs as there have been in demand by medical institutions these days. We should know that the merit done would all lead us to have a fit body and vigorous health in our future lives.
Thus all dear Buddhists, we all should increase good deeds through practice in Buddhism. We should refrain from doing what is forbidden. On the other hand, what is suggested for practise by Lord Buddha we should remember and try to practise as much as possible. We will all definitely be rewarded with both happiness and prosperity.
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