Beginning today, I would like to introduce you to the Six Paramitas or Transcendent Actions. They are six steps that, if undertaken with commitment and understanding, have the power to change the world.

The first paramita is Generosity. Usually, when we think of generosity, we conjure an image of someone giving something away to those who have not. In his seminal work, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Chogyam Trungpa writes:

Transcendental generosity is generally misunderstood as meaning being kind to someone who is lower than you. Someone has this pain and suffering and you are in a superior position and can save them–which is a very simple-minded way of looking down upon someone. But in the case of the bodhisattva, generosity is not so callous. It is something very strong and powerful; it is communication.

This is very interesting. One way to read this is that rather than viewing generosity as a transference of goods, services, or energy, it is a gesture of opening. To communicate, we have to listen, both to others and to ourself; we have to open. This is a very giving thing to do.

As always, the first step is to begin by offering generosity to yourself. For many of us, this is a surprisingly difficult thing to do. We can be so harsh with ourselves. What would it be like if instead of meeting your every word, thought, and gesture with a critique of some sort, you met them with openness? All this means is allowing. When you feel sad, allow yourself to feel sad. When you are pleased, allow yourself to feel pleased. When you come down on yourself with a harsh judgment, notice and allow that too: not the storyline (”if only you hadn’t said/worn/done that”) but the energy of heat and claustrophobia that come with judgmentalism. Whether is is sadness, pleasure, or anxiety, when you turn toward what you feel, open to it, communicate with it, you are in a great position to notice the arising, arcing, and eventual dissolution of whatever thought or emotion has you in its grip. This is a very generous thing to do.

So try it. Maybe make the next 24 hours a kind of experiment. Vow to meet whatever you experience with the generosity of openness and allowing. Notice it, watch it dissolve, and then return attention to the present moment. Do it for yourself. Do it for me. Do it for all of us.

The practice of meditation is itself the essence of generosity. When you practice, this is exactly what you are doing.

Stay tuned for Paramita #2: Discipline.

Check out this video for a 10-minute guided meditation + a few additional words on generosity. (Yes, I know I cut my own  head off on this particular video… look for its return on the next episode…)