Generosity
In the Revealing the Profound Secrets Sutra the Buddha tells World Voice Perceiver Bodhisattva:
There are three kinds of generosity. The first is to give the Dharma. The second is to give wealth. The third is to give fearlessness.
T676, 16.705c14-705c15
The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana describes the perfection of generosity as follows:
How do you practice the gate of generosity? If you see anyone seeking something, give them whatever you can according to your ability. Abandon stinginess and make them joyful. If you see someone in difficulty, fear, or grave danger, help them according to your capacity and give them fearlessness. If sentient beings come seeking the Dharma, explain it according to your understanding and ability and use skillful means to explain it. Do not seek fame, profit, or respect. Only think of benefiting yourself and others and dedicate the merit to awakening.
T1666, 9.581c17-581c22
In the Bodhicharyavatara (Introduction to the Practice of Awakening) by the Indian Mahayana monk Shantidva (c. 685 - c. 763), the following dialogue about the nature of the perfection of generosity cultivated by the “Protectors” (i.e. Buddhas) is found:
9. If the perfection of generosity consists in making the universe free from poverty, how can previous Protectors have acquired it, when the world is still poor, even today?
10. The perfection of generosity is said to result from the mental attitude of relinquishing all that one has to all people, together with the fruit of that act. Therefore the perfection of generosity is the mental attitude itself.
The Bodhicaryavatara 5.9-10 as translated by Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton.
Shantidva gives two notable examples of what he means by this. In the second chapter, he offers what amounts to the entire world to the buddhas and their sons (i.e. the bodhisattvas) and then acknowledges that these are mental offerings. He then offers his very life in service to the buddhas:
6. See, in my mind I take hold of all these, and present them to the Bulls amongst Sages, and their sons. With great compassion, tender towards me, may those most worthy of gifts accept these from me.
7. I have no merit, I am completely destitute. I have nothing else to offer in worship. So, through their power, may the Lords resolved on the well-being of others accept this for my well-being.
8. I give my entire self wholly to the Conquerors and to their sons. Take possession of me, sublime beings; out of devotion, I am your slave.
The Bodhicaryavatara 2.6-8, as translated by Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton
In the third chapter, he makes the following vows:
6. With the good acquired by doing all this as described, may I allay all the suffering of every living being.
7. I am medicine for the sick. May I be both the doctor and their nurse, until the sickness does not recur.
8. May I avert the pain of hunger and thirst with showers of food and drink. May I become both drink and food in the intermediate aeons of famine.
9. May I be an inexhaustible treasure for impoverished beings. May I wait upon them with various forms of offering.
10. See, I give up without regret my bodies, my pleasures, and my good acquired in all three times, to accomplish good for every being.
11. Abandonment of all is Enlightenment and Enlightenment is my heart’s goal. If I must give up everything, better it be given to sentient beings.
12. I make over this body to all embodied beings to do with as they please. Let them continually beat it, insult it, and splatter it with filth.
13. Let them play with my body; let them be derisive and amuse themselves. I have given this body to them. What point has this concern of mine?
14. Let them have me do whatever brings them pleasure. Let there never be harm to anyone on account of me.
15. Should their mind become angry or displeased on account of me, may even that be the cause of their always achieving their goal.
16. Those who will falsely accuse me, and others who will do me harm, and others who will degrade me, may they all share in Awakening.
17. I am the protector of the unprotected and the caravan-leader for travellers. I have become the boat, the causeway, and the bridge for those who long to reach the other shore.
18. May I be a light for those in need of light. May I be a bed for those in need of rest. May I be a servant for those in need of service, for all embodied beings.
19. For embodied beings may I be the wish-fulfilling jewel, the pot of plenty, the spell that always works, the potent healing herb, the magical tree that grants every wish, and the milch-cow that supplies all wants.
20. Just as earth and the other elements are profitable in many ways to the immeasurable beings dwelling throughout space,
21. So may I be sustenance of many kinds for the realm of beings throughout space, until all have attained release.
The Bodhicaryavatara 3.6-21, as translated by Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton
Among many examples, two stories from the lifetimes in which the bodhisattva who becomes Shakyamuni displayed the perfection of generosity are mentioned by Nichiren Shonin in his treatise Contemplation of the Mind and the Focus of Devotion (Kanjin Honzon-sho) (WNS2, p. 136). He also mentions them in other writings. (e.g. WNS7, p. 139) The first is the story of King Shibi. In one of his previous existences, Shakyamuni Buddha was practicing the bodhisattva way as King Shibi. To test his resolve, the gods Indra and Vishvakarman took the forms of a hawk and a dove respectively. The dove flew to the king seeking refuge, but the hawk demanded he be given his lawful prey. The king offered to give the hawk an amount of his own flesh equal to the weight of the dove. No amount of flesh could equal the dove’s weight on the scales however, and so in the end King Shibi put his whole body on the scale. At this point the gods revealed their true forms and healed King Shibi, praising him for his boundless loving-kindness and generosity.
There is a story about King Shibi (or in Pali, Sivi) amongst the Pali Jataka tales. It is number 499 in that collection. However, in that story, though he gives his eyes to Indra who was disguised as a brahmin, there is no mention of the hawa and dove incident.
A much more succinct version is given as the eight story in the first division of the Cariyapitaka (Basket of Conduct) in the Pali canon.
The story is mentioned in some versions of the Lankavatara Sutra. In D. T. Suzuki’s translation of the sutra, there is the following passage that summarizes the story to make the point that one should not eat meat (because it assumes that Indra was forced to become a hawk and that he did not do so voluntarily to test the bodhisattva):
Mahamati, even Indra who obtained sovereignty over the gods has to assume the form of a hawk owing to his habit-energy of eating meat for food in a previous existence; he then chased Vishvakarman appearing in the guise of a pigeon who had thus to place himself on the scale. King Shivi feeling pity for the innocent [pigeon had to sacrifice himself to the hawh and thus] to suffer great pain. Even a god who became Indra the Powerful, after going through many a birth, Mahamati, is liable to bring misfortune both upon himself and others; how much more those who are not Indra!
The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text, p. 216.
A version of this story is told in the Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise.
A version of this story is also told in The Three Jewels: A Study and Translation of Minamoto Tamenori's Sanboe.
The other story Nichiren mentions is the past-life tale of Prince Mahasattva. In another of his previous existences, Shakyamuni Buddha was practicing the bodhisattva way as Prince Mahasattva who gave himself up to be eaten by a hungry tigress and her starving cubs. This demonstrated that bodhisattvas are motivated solely by selfless compassion and are willing to give up even their lives countless times for the sake of other sentient beings.
This story is referred to critically in the Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise in response to the question of whether a bodhisattva can fulfill the first five perfections at the same time if the demands of some of them sometimes conflict. The answer is that beginner bodhisattvas are not able to practice them at the same time because they do not have the wisdom to resolve these conflicting demands and in trying to fulfill some they may inadvertently break others or cause more suffering. The story of Prince Mahasattva is given as a case in point.
Answer: If one is new to bodhisattva practices, one will not be able to practice the [first] five perfections at the same time in a single lifetime. For example, when the bodhisattva was practicing the perfection of giving he saw a tigress that was so hungry it was going to eat its cubs. Then the bodhisattva’s heart of great compassion was aroused and he immediately gave [the tigress and her cubs] his body [to eat]. The Bodhisattva's father and mother, due to the loss of their child, were so grief-stricken and distressed that they went blind, and the tigers had committed the transgression of killing a bodhisattva. He had not considered the grief and sadness of father and mother or that the tigers would be guilty of a transgression. He only wanted to accomplish and act of generosity and attain merit for himself.
T.1509.25.179b25-179c02
A version of this story is told in The Three Jewels: A Study and Translation of Minamoto Tamenori’s Sanboe.
According to the Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise, Shakyamuni Buddha, in another previous life, was a celibate student, or brahmacharin, named Gladdened by Dharma. Gladdened by Dharma was seeking the Buddha Dharma so earnestly that he did not hesitate to peel off his skin to use as paper, or to use his bone as a pen and his blood as ink to write down a verse of the Dharma.
This story is told in the Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise.