According to the tradition of pure Dhamma, donations are the only source of funding for courses and centres in Vipassana meditation. There are no charges or fees to attend a course, and neither the meditation teachers nor the trustees who run the centres receive any payment for their service. Thus, the spread of Dhamma is carried out with purity of purpose, free from any commercialism.
The Pali word Dāna can be translated as donation
or as generosity
. It is one of the ten Parāmis or mental qualities. Giving donations (dāna) develops one’s qualities of generosity and selflessness.
Dāna is the act of giving; giving in a special way. As Goenkaji says ‘The good of all, the welfare of all should be the volition’. Those who have experienced the benefits of Vipassana meditation are able to donate with this volition to help others in the ultimate sense: to come out of craving, aversion and ignorance.
Goenkaji also spoke about the Dāna of Dhamma:
As one progresses on the path, one keeps developing different pāramis – qualities which helps one to cross the ocean of life and death. When these pāramis are fulfilled, it becomes easy to reach the final goal.
Dāna is a very important pāramī. And, according to the words of the Enlightened One, the dāna of Dhamma is the greatest of all.
Why is it the greatest? Let us understand. According to the law of nature, the seed that we sow will give fruits, many fruits and each fruit will contain the same type of seed. If we give dāna of food, then the fruit will be that we will get sufficient food in our present life and future lives.
According to the same law of nature, whatever type of dāna you give, you will get that type of fruit in the future in a greater quantity. When you give the dāna of Dhamma, the fruit that you will get is a greater quantity of Dhamma.
As a result, one becomes stronger and stronger in Dhamma which helps one to reach the final goal. That is why the Enlightened One said that, “The dāna of Dhamma is the greatest dāna.”