Dana
“May we, with all beings, Realize the emptiness of the three wheels: Giver, receiver, and gift.” — Zendo meal verse
This is the dana bowl.
What is dana?
The word itself translates as giving or generosity.
A bodhisattva’s generosity is said to be of three kinds: giving material gifts, giving fearlessness, and giving dharma.
When we come together to practice, we are giving fearlessness and dharma.
These forms of dana are what Neighborhood Zen offers and what sustain Neighborhood Zen. Each of us, by being here, creates and sustains the sangha, and without our coming together to sit there would be no Neighborhood Zen.
Since 2017, when Neighborhood Zen began, many of us have also given materially, sharing food and work during retreats, giving items that support practice such as cushions, instruments, incense, and candles, offering generous scholarship assistance for retreat attendance, providing useful supplies such as masks, toilet paper, dish soap, card stock and printer ink, and making kind personal gifts.
I have been reluctant to formalize any structure for these ways of giving within our sangha, and there is now, as always, no specific request or expectation of material giving. Still, we have been growing, and it seems to be time to offer some guidelines, specifically for dana offered in the form of money.
To support our sangha practice with money, Westri has agreed to serve as our treasurer. Together he and I will keep a record of expenditures and cash gifts.
We will regard cash offerings as being of three kinds: gifts for expenses, gifts for scholarship assistance to sangha members, and gifts for teaching to me. Expenses compensated in this way will include zendo, office, and housekeeping supplies and a small share of the monthly utilities.
With this in mind, when making an offering in the dana bowl, please use an envelope if you wish to designate your gift for “Expenses,” “Dana for Catherine,” and/or “Scholarship.” Undesignated offerings will be divided equally between “Expenses” and “Dana for Catherine.” To make an offering by check or PayPal, please ask Westri for instructions. (You can email him at neighborhoodzen @ gmail, using TREASURER as your subject line.)
We will continue sharing food, tea and tea treats, dana in the form of service, and occasional material or personal gifts to the sangha or to me in the informal ways we have always done.